Offshore wind has cut UK’s spending on imported fuels by at least £30bn, says ECIU

• Analysis on 25th anniversary of commissioning of UK's first offshore wind farm finds the technology is now main source of electricity from North Sea, overtaking gas

 
The growth of offshore wind has reduced the UK's spending on imported fuels by at least £30bn (in 2024 real prices) to-date, finds new analysis by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU). [1]
 
Coming on the 25^th anniversary of the commissioning of the UK's first offshore wind farm at Blyth Harbour in Northumberland, [2] the analysis finds that, for the first time, UK offshore wind generation overtook the amount of electricity generated from domestically-produced gas in 2024, generating around 10% more power. [3]
 
This will become the norm, with the gap growing [4] as North Sea gas production continues its decline, irrespective of any new drilling [5], and as new offshore wind farms come online. [6]
 
Jess Ralston, Head of Energy at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), said: “We're seeing a symbolic shift in power in the North Sea as gas continues its decades-long decline while offshore wind takes top spot as the main source of British electricity for homes and businesses across the UK.
 
“As a mature basin, it's an inevitability that North Sea gas output will continue to fall, so unless offshore wind expands, we'll be ever more reliant on foreign gas imports and be ever more dependent on the international gas markets that sent bills haywire.
 
“The UK has done well to shift to clean, homegrown electricity, but it now needs to do the same for heating. Unless the UK gets on with installing electric heat pumps that can run off British renewables, the UK's gas boilers will increasingly run on foreign gas as the North Sea runs out.”
 
Since late 2000, cumulative generation from offshore wind totalled over 400 terrawatt-hours (TWh) as of mid-2025, which otherwise would likely have been provided by a mixture of gas and coal. [7] Given the ongoing decline of UK gas and coal production, this extra consumption would have pushed up their imports by 10% and 4%, respectively, over the past 25 years. [8]
 
Of these avoided payments to overseas fossil fuel producers, an estimated £1bn (real prices, 2024 £) could have been paid to Russia for imports of LNG and coal, based on its historical share of imports, were it not for UK offshore wind power. [9]
 
25 years into their deployment, UK offshore wind farms currently produce almost 50TWh of electricity per year (17% of UK total generation). [10] UK nuclear power plants reached that same level of output 27 years after the first station at Calderhall opened in 1956. [11]

ENDS