The UK supply chain needs to improve if it is to reduce offshore wind costs in the country, it has been claimed.
According to a new report by the UK Energy Research Centre, a lack of manufacturing competition, planning and supply chain constraints, along with rising material prices, have increased the capital costs of offshore farms to more than £3 million per megawatt.
The report claims that costs are made higher because around 80 per cent of the value of offshore wind farms comes from overseas, leaving them particularly susceptible to the falling strength of the pound.
Report author Dr Robert Gross of Imperial College London commented: "We do expect costs to come down gradually and there's a kind of tendency for all of the proponents of the various technologies to cling to their early beliefs in the face of reality. Policy needs to place firm downward pressure on costs."
According to a new report from KPMG, supply chain managers considering how to streamline their company's operations should not make the mistake of only focusing on cost, as there are several factors which enable continuous improvement.
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