UK wind sector plays catch-up

Government incentives have breathed a new lease of life into the UK wind sector, but is it too little too late? Ian Lewis writes

THE UK hopes its latest initiatives to kick-start its offshore wind industry will not only enable the country to meet its emissions-reduction targets, but also provide a badly needed stimulus for domestic industry. That means developing a local turbine-manufacturing base – all but absent so far – which will not be easy given the head-start European rivals have. The UK has been a laggard in terms of renewables incentives and investment compared with Europe's leaders in the sector, despite the country's copious wind resources – among the developed world's best. While Germany already had 23.9 gigawatts (GW) of wind power by end-2008 – second globally only to the US – and Spain had 16.7 GW, the