Floating Offshore Wind 2025 - reflections from the RenewableUK Shadow Board

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15 December 2025

RenewableUK and Scottish Renewables co-hosted Floating Offshore Wind last month, with an event programme featuring high-level political and industry engagement across the UK, Scotland and Wales, reflecting the evolving policy and investment landscape. Taking place from 12 to 13 November in Aberdeen, this year's event was attended by several members of the RenewableUK Shadow Board, who have offered their reflections:

Josh Roebuck, Head of Energy Policy at Scottish Power Renewables:

Last year, many of the conversations at the Floating Offshore Wind conference centred on the challenges of scaling up floating wind, namely: supply-chain readiness, unclear timelines, slow policy progress, and the urgent need for test and demo projects. One year on, a good deal of this felt unchanged, leaving me with a strong sense of déjà vu when reflecting on this year’s event.

• We’re still talking about the same barriers - the conversations about permitting delays, infrastructure bottlenecks, and slow auction pipelines felt almost identical to last year. The sector knows what needs to happen — but progress remains frustratingly slow. This might be because we haven’t had a CfD allocation round since the last conference, due to the delays to AR7, but it also feels like there’s a perception of risk in first mover advantage, rather than commercial gain.


• Test and demo projects remain stuck in limbo - everyone acknowledges the importance of T&D projects, but they still aren’t happening at the pace or scale required. Without early projects in the water, industrialisation will remain aspirational. Yes, there is a timing issue given AR7 results aren't yet known, but the auction budgets don't instil confidence, even if FLOW has its own dedicated pot for the first time.


• Supply-chain confidence is weakening, not strengthening - rather than gearing up, many parts of the supply chain seem to be stepping back, waiting for real commitments rather than repeating optimistic projections. In other words, uncertainty is starting to bite.


• Collaboration is high, but momentum is not - the willingness to work together is there, but without clearer signals and delivery pathways, this alone will not move the sector forward.

However, I don’t wish to sound defeatist. It won’t take much to tip the balance in favour of optimism rather than pessimism, and I think the biggest unlocker here is AR7.

But this wasn’t the only reason to be optimistic. A genuine bright spot came in the form of the NextGen Network event at Floating Offshore Wind 2025, where the atmosphere was noticeably different. The energy, openness, and ambition from early-career professionals was a refreshing contrast to the circular discussions elsewhere. The enthusiasm in that room - where people were eager to shape the future of floating wind, challenge old assumptions, and push for progress - was a reminder that the sector has deep talent and momentum waiting to be unlocked.

Despite the overall sense of the industry being stuck in a holding pattern, that injection of optimism from the next generation shows there’s no shortage of people ready to drive the change we talk about.
 
Elouise Smith, Senior Consents Manager at Nadara:

This year marked my third time attending Floating Offshore Wind on behalf of Nadara, and my first as Vice Chair of the RenewableUK Shadow Board. Performing these twin roles gave me a unique experience, and I found myself absorbing the conference from two distinct perspectives.

Over the two days, I listened closely to the keynote speeches from industry leaders, many of whose points had deep resonance. There was widespread acknowledgement that times are tough, yet also a powerful reminder of how far we have come, with Green Volt progressing its consent, Kansai Electric Power’s investment into Simply Blue’s projects, major investment at the Port of Nigg, and GB Energy’s growing support. These milestones matter.

As someone who also works in socioeconomics and stakeholder engagement, I was pleased to frequently hear the phrase ‘social licence’. It is our responsibility to clearly articulate where the jobs are, the value we bring, and the future we’re collectively trying to build. Through the consenting process, I see first-hand that the UK maintains a strong policy framework and continues to lead globally in floating wind research and development.

Communication also emerged as a key theme. It’s clear we still have work to do as an industry, namely by telling real stories from real people on the ground. We deliver enormous value, but now we need to confidently defend that value and communicate it outwardly to the public, especially among rural and coastal communities.

We all felt a collective blow when the AR7 budget was announced. Michael Shanks, Minister for Energy in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), addressed this directly when speaking at the conference, emphasising that the Government must lay the foundations for the gigawatt-scale projects ahead. While many hoped for more, there was also recognition of the need to balance support for future deployment alongside protections for billpayers. The message was clear: we are open for business and, as we scale, we must take the hard-learned lessons from fixed offshore wind and apply them to floating.

One highlight was the NextGen Network event ‘An Introduction to Floating Wind’ which had an excellent turnout. It was great to meet people at the start of their renewables journey, and I particularly enjoyed speaking with Axel, who had recently moved from a naval background to pursue a career in clean energy, and Allan, who had come out of retirement from the oil and gas sector to re-enter the workforce through renewables.

Day two’s standout session was the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council (SOWEC) and Offshore Wind Evidence and Change (OWEC) panel, featuring industry, Government figures, and technical experts. Big issues were mentioned, such as the much-anticipated final version of the Sectoral Marine Plan (SMP) for Offshore Wind Energy which provides the spatial planning framework for the ScotWind and INTOG leasing rounds, and of course, the Marine Recovery Fund coming to fruition in December.

There was also a timely reminder of Scotland’s March 2026 elections, and the need for the SMP to be finalised ahead of that political cycle. Sue O’Brien, Principal Ornithologist, provided an update on her work with the Scottish Government to reduce unnecessary precaution in ornithological assessments, which was particularly welcome. Such assessments can result in unrealistic, overinflated results, and it was encouraging to see this openly acknowledged, with collaboration underway to fix it.

The panel also praised the North East and East Ornithological Group (NEEOG) as a model of collaboration. Given I sit within this group, I was proud to see our hard work recognised, especially after our Environmental Excellence Award at October’s Global Offshore Wind Awards. The Scottish Government’s ask was clear: submit robust applications and stay aligned with evolving guidance to achieve streamlined determinations.

On the train back to Glasgow, I reflected on the conversations, challenges, and opportunities ahead, as well as my role in all of it. This year’s conference reinforced not only how far the floating wind sector has come, but how essential it is that we continue to collaborate, communicate, and lead with purpose.

Isaac Connell, Technical/EPC Director at Copenhagen Offshore Partners:

This year marked by third time attending the Floating Offshore Wind conference in Aberdeen, and I took away a number of key reflections following discussions in 2025 and noting how the conversation has moved. These included:

• Technology innovation - having been in the trenches through my role on Pentland understanding the cost drivers and cost out levers, I saw a real understanding of this from the supply chain who are actively working to develop solutions. This work has matured from concepts to products that are either qualified or are on a qualification pathway where there is a clear value proposition – we now just need project ‘hosts’ to deploy and commercialise.


• Resilience - heavily linked to the above, the resilience, belief and doggedness of the attendees from project and technology developers, infrastructure owners, contractors was clear and should be applauded, particularly when you consider the context within which this progress has been made. However, the rewards for this resilience need to come through contracts and industry momentum.


• Demo projects are on the horizon – although the exact number will be revealed in January 2026, the fact that demo projects will be supported through AR7 is welcome. The necessity of these projects for stakeholders across the industry clearly came through in presentations at this year’s conference, as well as panel discussions and water cooler chats. It’s crucial that these projects grasp the opportunity to test and demonstrate technologies that drive cost out, because a ‘business as usual approach’ will squander the opportunity that has been so long discussed.

Attending this year’s conference, I was also struck by a number of opportunities to improve the conversations, namely:

• Same story, different conference - many of the panel discussions focusing on the macro issues around grid constraints, consenting bottlenecks, and bankability, none of which have really moved forward. These issues are important but in my view are well known, and future events would be an ideal platform for detailed technical and commercial discussions.


• Innovation, the new industrialisation - at previous conferences ‘industrialisation’ was the buzzword and emerged as a crucial piece of the cost out puzzle, yet often seem to lack detail and context. On the exhibition floor and in the one-to-ones with various technologists, the detail was there but the format is limited. Similarly to my first point, there is a clear desire to move to more mature, positive and impactful conversations where technologists can stand up and deliver a clear message. Namely: this is the challenge we see; this is the solution we have; this is value it delivers; this is why you should come and work with us.

Reflecting on the above, two different conversations emerge, which is reflective of the broader societal discussion where visions, ambitions and target-setting act as a negative rather than positive force and can often overshadow the tangible progress and action being made at the level of project, technology, supply chain and industry development. The conversation for floating wind will shift next year on account of AR7 outcomes, and we need to macro landscape to quietly solve the issues to free up a shift to focussing on practical problem solving.

I did a quick AI search gathering the social media sentiment associated with the tag #FloatingWind25 which aligns well with the sentiment I have shared. The mood and key tag words were as follows:

• 90% positive or neutral: collaboration, partnerships, event organisation, resilience.


• 10% negative: expensive, supply chain readiness, echo chambers, policy heavy, repetitiveness.

In conclusion, I think the understanding of the challenges and opportunities in floating offshore wind has never been clearer. The industry has moved beyond concepts and is now delivering qualified solutions with real value propositions. The resilience and determination shown by developers, technologists, and the wider supply chain is commendable. And with AR7 paving the way for demonstration projects, we now have a tangible opportunity to accelerate cost reduction and commercialisation.