Government tasks Merseyside shipyard Cammell Laird with devising plan to ensure UK becomes a global leader in building offshore wind support vessels – a market worth an estimated £35bn. Tony McDonough reports

Cammell Laird is to take the lead on a project that could see the UK become a world leader in the building of support vessels for offshore wind farms.

Global offshore wind capacity is expected to grow to more than 850GW by 2050. This will require the construction of a new fleet of low carbon service operation vessels (SOVs). It is estimated the market could be worth about £35bn.

This insight comes from the Government’s Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult. In partnership with the National Shipbuilding Office and The Crown Estate, has appointed Cammell Laird in Birkenhead to carry out a detailed analysis of the SOV market.

According to the ORE Catapult the world’s wind farms will require hundreds of new SOVs.

Bibby Marine in Liverpool is currently building the world’s first zero-emission SOV at a shipyard in Spain at a cost of tens of millions of pounds. And it says it intends to build another three. However, the UK Government wants to see future vessels built in Britain. 

Lauren Hadnum, clean maritime manager at ORE Catapult, said: “We know that for the UK to tap into the full potential offered by offshore wind, we’re going to need to dramatically increase the number of vessels that are able to maintain the turbines of the future. 

“It’s vital, therefore, that we work to ensure as many of those vessels as possible can be manufactured in British shipyards.”

Cammell Laird, part of the APCL Group which includes other UK shipyards, will produce the UK SOV Manufacturing Business Case Development study. 

This will help to develop knowledge of how the UK can provide vessel manufacturing to support offshore wind, delivering jobs and economic investment to communities around the country.

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Linton Roberts, APCL group chief technology officer, said the SOV market study represented a significant step forward in strengthening the UK’s position in offshore renewable vessel manufacturing.

He added: “As one of the UK’s largest and most established shipbuilders, we are committed to delivering a robust, evidence-based business case that will shape the future of sustainable shipbuilding and reinforce the UK’s role in the global offshore wind supply chain.”

According to Will Apps, offshore wind strategy director at The Crown Estate, the UK is second only to China in offshore wind energy production with further wind farms planned for the coming years.

He explained: “Developing the domestic supply chain will be an essential factor in our continued success and we expect a significant uplift in demand for SOVs in the coming years, with the potential to create jobs and economic growth.

“One particularly interesting output from the study will be the feasibility assessment of low or no emission SOVs operating in the UK, acknowledging the importance of decarbonising the offshore wind sector itself and of the operation and maintenance of windfarms.”