Abstract
Report from Phase 1 of the ELMWIND project.
As offshore wind helps propel Scotland towards net zero, a new report highlights how a circular economy around the sector could slash carbon emissions by 34% and provide an extra 20,000 jobs across the UK that Scotland could capitalise on.
The ‘End of Life Materials Mapping for Offshore Wind in Scotland’ report, produced by the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, in partnership with Zero Waste Scotland, has identified the vast quantity of materials needed to develop the Scottish offshore wind market. But the report also highlights how these materials can be refurbished, remanufactured, and recycled from wind turbine decommissioning – to reduce waste and generate economic opportunities.
The report examines the offshore wind sector up to 2050 and sets out the huge supply chain opportunity created by the volume of projected growth across Scotland, following the Scottish Government target to increase capacity to 11GW of offshore wind in Scotland by 2030, the ScotWind leasing round, and the Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) leasing process.
If all proposed projects in the pipeline are successful, Scotland’s offshore wind capacity would reach almost 40GW by 2033.