Scottish Government commits to 40GW of new offshore wind capacity

Speaking today (January 28) at the opening of the Offshore Wind Conference 2026, organised by trade body Scottish Renewables, Gillian Martin MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy, announced the Scottish Government’s decision to reset its offshore wind ambition to up to 40 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity by 2040.

The Cabinet Secretary said that the increased ambition reflects significant private sector interest in ScotWind and the Innovation and Targeted Oil and Gas (INTOG) seabed leasing rounds replacing Scotland’s previous offshore wind capacity ambition of between 8–11 GW by 2030. 

The two-day Offshore Wind Conference 2026, in Glasgow, will examine how Scotland and the UK can maximise the opportunity this essential technology has to offer.

Colin Palmer, Director of Offshore at Scottish Renewables, said:

“The Offshore Wind Conference is an annual opportunity for the sector to come together, recognise what has been achieved so far and reinforce offshore wind as the primary resource for delivering a clean energy system across the UK.

“As an industry it is welcome that the Scottish Government shares our ambitions for a sector that already supports more than 16,500 full-time jobs in Scotland and generates £6.8 billion for the Scottish economy.

“Scotland will play a key role in achieving the UK’s ambition to build a clean, secure and energy resilient energy system and we urge the UK government to recognise the Scottish Government’s new commitment for 40GW of new offshore wind capacity by 2040 in its strategic energy planning.”

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• Increasing offshore wind investment and ambition – Scottish Government