04/02/2025 | Offshore wind
Offshore wind co-location: integrating offshore wind with flexibility
4 February 2025 - RenewableUK report
A new report setting out a series of measures to address the challenges developers face when building battery storage and green hydrogen projects alongside offshore wind farms.
Energy storage plays a critical role in providing greater flexibility to the UK’s energy system, ensuring electricity supply meets demand at all times. It helps to tackle the issue of variability of renewable energy generation. For example, in times of high winds, the grid cannot always transport the vast amounts of clean power being generated by wind, and although some grid upgrades are underway, other solutions are needed to make the best use of the UK’s abundant renewable energy resources. Batteries can provide short or long-term power, and green hydrogen generated using renewable electricity can be stored and used whenever it is needed, boosting the UK’s energy security.
The report sets out the case for reforming the planning system and the rules governing financial support mechanisms to encourage more battery and green hydrogen projects to “co-locate” with offshore wind farms, sharing existing grid infrastructure to save time and cut costs.
Find out more about the ways to build more energy storage and green hydrogen projects alongside offshore wind farms
Read the report