Can the UK compete? Exploring strengths and barriers to growth in offshore wind manufacturing
In business being competitive is rarely about being the best at everything. More often, it comes from understanding what you do better than anyone else and having the discipline to focus on it.
The most successful companies make deliberate choices. They identify where they can create the greatest value, where they can differentiate from competitors and where investment is most likely to generate long-term returns.
We see this same principle can be applied to industries.
Offshore wind supply chains are global, highly specialised and increasingly competitive. The question facing the UK is not whether we can manufacture every component in offshore wind. The alternative question is whether we can identify the areas where we can have a genuine advantage and concentrate our efforts there.
In many ways, competitiveness is an exercise in focus. Success comes not from doing everything, but from knowing where you can win and having the confidence to back those opportunities.
The UK Castings & Forgings Bill of Works, commissioned by the Offshore Wind Growth Partnership and the Cast Metals Federation, provides an evidence base for exactly that discussion. It connects future offshore wind demand with existing UK capability, helping to identify the component categories and supply chain areas where the UK has the strongest foundations for growth and the greatest potential to capture value alongside how we position capability and capacity for potential future opportunities.
Start with the market
By 2050, the UK offshore wind pipeline is expected to require more than 2 million tonnes of castings and forgings, representing a market opportunity worth approximately £36 billion.
Those figures are significant, but demand alone does not create economic value for the UK. The key question is how much of that demand can be supplied competitively by UK manufacturers. Today, it’s modest, the report estimates around 8% of total castings and forgings demand. That statistic might appear discouraging, however I see it differently, the fact that UK companies are already supplying into offshore wind demonstrates that capability exists.
Across the country, manufacturers are producing components in one of the most technically demanding sectors in the world. The challenge is not an absence of capability, the challenge is how we build on the capability that currently exists.
Competitiveness starts with making choices
Offshore wind supply chains will remain global, OEMs will source components internationally, developers manage complex multinational supply chains and investment decisions are driven by a combination of capability, quality, cost, scale and delivery certainty.
The more powerful question is not whether the UK can manufacture every component, but where it can establish and maintain a competitive advantage in those it chooses to compete in. Focusing on identifying areas where the UK has existing strengths, strategic relevance and realistic prospects for growth is brought to life in the Castings & Forgings Bill of Works.
The report identifies several component categories where UK firms already demonstrate competitive capability. Fasteners, cable protection systems and sacrificial anodes are established examples where domestic manufacturers have successfully secured positions within offshore wind supply chains.
However, the greatest opportunity lies in those areas where existing capability can be expanded to meet growing demand. The report highlights areas of significant opportunity in tower, foundations and nacelles alongside components identified as priorities within the Industrial Growth Plan. These findings are equally compelling for floating offshore wind.
As commercial-scale deployment accelerates, demand is expected to increase for components such as anchors, mooring connectors, shackles, clump weights and other large forged and cast products. These are products that draw on capabilities already found within parts of the UK's manufacturing, maritime and offshore engineering sectors.
Taken together, these opportunities tell an important story. The UK's future competitiveness will not be defined by a single factory or a single technology. It will come from a portfolio of component categories where market demand, industrial capability and strategic focus intersect.
The opportunity is larger than many realise
Today, UK manufacturers participate in markets representing around 8% of offshore wind castings and forgings demand. The study shows that the current existing capability alone could increase market share to around 14% and with targeted investment, that figure could rise to as much as 37% of demand, equivalent to £14.6 billion in Gross Value Added for the UK economy.
The breadth of the opportunity is significant. The potential spans mature supply chain strengths such as fasteners and protection systems, established heavy engineering capabilities linked to forged rings and castings, and emerging markets associated with drivetrains, nacelle assembly and floating offshore wind.
This is not simply a question of increasing UK content. Our focus is about capturing more of the value created by the offshore wind sector and translating deployment into long-term industrial growth.
The role of clusters
Competitiveness rarely develops in isolation, successful industrial sectors emerge where businesses, skills, infrastructure, customers and investment come together in concentrated clusters. It is no different in the offshore wind sector.
Many of the existing and potential capabilities identified within the report are already located within regions such as the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber, the West Midlands, Scotland and Wales. These areas possess deep expertise in metals, manufacturing, engineering and energy. Offshore wind presents an opportunity to connect those existing strengths with future demand.
For example, floating wind creates opportunities for coastal regions with strong maritime and offshore heritage. Forging and heavy engineering opportunities align with established industrial areas. Building on and strengthening these sovereign capabilities is one reason the report's findings matter beyond offshore wind itself.
This demonstrates how the energy transition can support broader industrial renewal, regional growth and long-term economic resilience in the UK.
What are the barriers?
The report is optimistic, but it is also realistic.
Challenge #1 Investment: Many of the opportunities identified, require substantial capital expenditure. Businesses need confidence that demand will materialise before committing significant resources to new facilities, equipment and skills development linking directly to challenge #2.
Challenge #2 Visibility: Manufacturers need a clearer understanding of the potential future demand, procurement strategies and market opportunities. One of the most valuable aspects of the Bill of Works is that it provides precisely that evidence base.
Challenge #3 Coordination: Developers, OEMs, suppliers, investors and policymakers all influence the conditions in which supply chains develop. Progress depends on these groups aligning around a shared understanding of priorities and working collectively to address barriers to growth.
None of these challenges are unique to offshore wind, they do illustrate an important point: competitiveness is not created through ambition alone. It requires confidence, collaboration and long-term commitment.
A question of ambition
This report is not about demonstrating the size of the opportunity, it is the clear evidence that more is possible.
The UK already has manufacturers supplying offshore wind. We already have recognised strengths in several strategically important component categories. We already possess many of the skills and industrial capabilities required to capture a greater share of future demand.
Achieving the opportunity is not about starting from zero, it is deciding how far we want to go from our baseline.
Do we remain a market that imports the majority of high-value components while deploying large volumes of offshore wind? Or do we use that demand to strengthen domestic manufacturing capability, support industrial growth and retain more value within the UK economy?
The answer will shape not only the future of offshore wind supply chains, but also the industrial legacy of the energy transition.
Building on UK strengths
The UK Castings & Forgings Bill of Works does not claim that the UK should manufacture everything it focuses us on exploiting the opportunities where through focused actions we can be competitive.
What it does show is that there are clear areas where UK businesses can compete, where demand is growing, and where targeted investment can unlock substantial value.
The conversation therefore shifts from "Can we compete?" to a more productive question: “Where can we be most competitive, and what do we need to do to get there?”
Answering that question with confidence is the first step towards turning offshore wind deployment into industrial growth.
The evidence is now on the table. The challenge is acting on it.
We’ll be running a series of events with our partners the Cast Metals Federation to explore how we deliver on the actions identified and support developing this key industrial sector.