ORE Catapult delivered the second Cost Reduction Monitoring Framework (CRMF) to the UK Offshore Wind Programme Board this month.
According to the report, offshore wind costs are falling fast with 12 of 13 cost indicators on or ahead of target. The industry is confident of driving costs below £100/MWh by 2020 on the back of long-term market certainty, ORE Catapult said.
Investment in turbine technology has delivered significant cost benefits, but further reduction will need to come from the innovations in ‘balance of plant’, such as foundations, cables and substations, the report shows.
Investment in research and development and manufacturing industrialisation to deliver such improvements, the report warns, will only come with greater visibility of future rates of deployment and market size as the UK Government sets out details of contracts for new offshore wind farms.