NEWS & INSIGHTS | Opinion
Addressing UK offshore wind barriers and powering Europe’s largest tidal energy project
Luca Corradi
Luca works to bring “the outside in”, connecting innovators and academics across sectors and disciplines, to explore the latest technologies that could be adopted to address oil and gas industry challenges. Leading The Net Zero Technology Centre’s horizon scanning activity, he identifies emerging technology trends, cutting through the hype to identify potential areas of impact and application. With a background in business and organisational change leadership, Luca has developed a strong network and is passionate about harnessing this to deliver the next generation of the net zero energy industry.
Outside work Luca loves reading, music and travel. He is married with two young daughters and a dog. He enjoys the rare motorbike ride in Scotland and even rarer ski trip on the Alps.
Offshore wind co-location; China’s CO2 emissions; Morlais tidal scheme
Chief technology officer Luca Corradi and his team monitor the global net zero landscape closely, following the trends, policies, investments and technology innovations that get the world closer to its shared climate goals. Learn more about our horizon scanning service. This week, Luca and his team share recommendation by Renewable UK addressing barriers to offshore wind co-location, look at the growth in China’s clean power, and explore the largest consented tidal energy project in Europe.
Offshore wind co-location
In the UK government’s Clean Power by 2030 plan, offshore wind will be the backbone of the clean power system. Offshore wind generation is particularly at risk of curtailment losses, especially in Scotland, where offshore wind development far outpaces demand under the National Energy System Operator (NESO) Future Energy Scenarios.
Integrating renewable generation into the system is complex, and co-location of flexible and energy storage assets with renewable generation, both onshore and offshore, will help to smooth the variability of renewable generation and reduce curtailment, whilst maximising the use of grid connection capacity.
Recommendations from Renewable UK to address barriers to co-location include:
- Enabling co-location of hydrogen production (including offshore) in future leasing rounds, and options and lease agreements to incentivise hydrogen pipeline development.
- Publish a UK Hydrogen strategy to enable the UK to play a key role in exporting hydrogen.
- Reform the Offshore Transmission Owner regime for an evolving offshore wind sector to consider co-location and mitigate investment risks.
- Accommodate metering scenarios designed for offshore co-location models in the CfD. This includes using hybrid metering to measure and manage energy flows in co-located projects, and applying virtual metering to combine data from meters located offshore and onshore.
China’s CO2 emissions
China’s CO2 emissions have plateaued since February 2024, as clean electricity supply growth covered all of the growth in electricity demand. In 2024 overall emissions grew by an estimated 0.8% due to the tail-end of China’s rebound from zero-Covid in January and February, and an abnormally high increase in energy demand.
The growth in clean power generation set a new record, with 500 TWh added in 2024. Carbon Brief predicts that 2025 will see more than 600 TWh of new clean power generation added. Clean-energy capacity growth is also likely to set a record in 2025, with an expected ~265 GW of solar additions and 110-120 GW of wind power.
Industrial electricity demand growth slowed since summer 2024, and total energy demand growth eased in the fourth quarter. If these trends continue, they could push China’s coal-power output into decline in 2025, significantly impacting global energy markets and emissions. In the fourth quarter, China’s CO2 emissions grew 0.6% year-on-year. Wind and solar fell short of expected levels, likely due to being denied grid access in favour of coal power. The government has pushed electricity buyers to enter long-term contracts with coal-power companies which involve guaranteed sales volumes, creating conflict between coal and clean power.
Carbon Brief analysis shows that China’s CO2 emissions have plateaued since February 2024
Image source: www.carbonbrief.org
Morlais tidal scheme
The Welsh Government has taken an £8 million equity stake in the Morlais tidal scheme, which is set to become the largest consented tidal energy project in Europe. The investment will help fund the Cydnerth phase of the project which aims to strengthen grid connection. The project will be operational from 2026 with the potential to generate 240MW of clean electricity.
The Welsh Government aims to make Wales a world centre for emerging tidal technologies. In January they introduced a Strategic Resource Areas for Tidal Stream Energy, designed to balance marine energy with environmental protection.
Morlais tidal scheme have partnered with The Crown Estate to provide access to environmental survey data gathered off the coast of Anglesey. Data collected during the first phase of the Morlais-led Marine Characterisation Research Project will be hosted on the Marine Data Exchange (MDE). The MDE was developed by The Crown Estate and is a “world-leading” collection of marine industry survey data designed to support sustainable development of the seabed, whilst protecting the UK’s marine environment.
The Welsh Government have invested £8 million into the Morlais tidal energy project, set to be the largest consented tidal project in Europe.
Image source: www.morlaisenergy.com
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