Tribute has been paid to the offshore wind workers who have changed working practices to keep building and operating throughout the pandemic.
Opening 海角视频 Wind Week, Melanie Onn, deputy chief executive of Renewable 海角视频, praised the relentless efforts through a year like no other as the sector is positioned at the centre of plans for a green recovery.
Direct electricity supply to the National Grid is being accelerated, while it is also seen as the power behind a green hydrogen economy, helping clean up heavy industry and hard to adapt transport and heat networks.
The former Grimsby MP - a constituency where the port has been transformed to help build then operate and maintain huge arrays in the North Sea - said: 鈥淭he wind industry is at the heart of the government鈥檚 green economic recovery plans, and in this difficult year industry has adapted working practices to continue to safely build projects, create thousands of jobs and kept the lights on."
In the Humber, Hornsea Two and Triton Knoll are emerging, as the cluster closes in on 5GW of installed capacity - with a clear pipeline to 10GW.
Celebration of 鈥渢he industry鈥檚 role in the fight against climate change, the jobs and investment that it is bringing to communities across the whole of the country and the innovation helping drive down those emissions at the lowest possible cost,鈥 comes just days after the 10-point plan was revealed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
He鈥檇 already hiked the 2030 capacity installation target up 10GW in October, with the latest announcement further underlining the credentials.
Hornsea Two - the next world leading wind farm being built by Orsted - has green hydrogen production as a key element, with additional facilities alongside the onshore substation at North Killingholme proposed.
As reported, Orsted is working with ITM Power and Phillips 66 Humber Refinery as an industrial end user on the government-backed project. It will dovetail into carbon capture plans also being progressed in the South Humber Bank industrial cluster. 聽聽
Industry chair of the Offshore Wind Industry Council, Benj Sykes - 脴rsted鈥檚 海角视频 offshore head of market development, consenting and external affairs - said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 great to see offshore wind at the top of the list in the Prime Minister鈥檚 transformational plan for green economic growth. Our industry is working to deliver billions in private investment in vital new offshore wind projects, create tens of thousands of skilled jobs right across the 海角视频 and take action on climate change at the scale needed to reach net zero emissions.
鈥淲e welcome a commitment to renewable hydrogen by 2030. Industry has set out a clear pathway for offshore wind to produce low-cost renewable hydrogen at scale, working with leading 海角视频 firms and technologies. By combining these two innovative low carbon technologies, we can deliver on the Prime Minister鈥檚 ambition to 鈥榯urn water into energy鈥.鈥
Ms Onn鈥檚 successor as Grimsby MP, Lia Nici, said: 鈥淎nnouncements in recent days are positive for Grimsby. We are currently the largest centre for maintenance and operations for the wind energy sector and this announcement enables us to continue to level up and become a 海角视频 leader in a wider range of renewables technologies.
鈥淲e are at the centre of Gigastack 鈥 a renewable hydrogen project led by ITM Power, 脴rsted, Phillips 66 and Element Energy. The project will see take energy taken from the Orsted鈥檚 offshore farms split into oxygen and renewable hydrogen. This will then be utilised at Phillips 66 refinery, subsequently reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
鈥淭he Humber is responsible for emitting 13.9 tonnes per Humber resident 鈥 over twice the national average 鈥 and projects such as Gigastack are vital not only for investment and employment, but also for the future of our planet.鈥
With a responsibility for skills as a further education ambassador in government, she has welcomed the Zero Carbon Humber hydrogen and carbon capture pan-Humber plan too.
鈥淓nsuring local people have the skills needed to take full advantage of the opportunities created by these new energy technologies is also critical,鈥 she said.
鈥淭he government, as well as businesses, training providers, schools, colleges and communities, must come together to support this initiative, so we鈥檙e ready to make the proposals a reality.鈥
