251. The Review heard that the fast pace at which renewables need to be deployed across the country carries the risks of bottlenecks for technology parts, materials and skills, with some of these already appearing. The lack of clear roadmaps means that projects compete for the same pool of labour and material. Some of the bottlenecks may apply across different technologies and sectors (for example cables, construction material and labour) whilst others may be very specific to a technology. Some of the constraints also relate to wider infrastructure.
252. It is also important for the Government to help put in place the enabling infrastructure. Businesses highlighted for example that the current UK port infrastructure does not support the assembly of offshore wind turbines. Investments in such infrastructure will be needed for more investments into UK offshore industry, particularly floating offshore wind.
253. To help address these issues, many respondents referred once more to the Offshore Wind Sector Deal as a good example of how government and industry could work together to identify, monitor and address these key issues. As highlighted above, the Review therefore recommends setting up similar task forces and roadmaps for other renewable technologies. This cooperation should identify potential bottlenecks in materials, infrastructure and skills and ways to address these. Similar to the offshore wind sector deal, technology-specific commitments to increasing resilience of UK supply chains should be considered.
254. Respondents also highlighted the need for this work to look at potential competition and synergy between sectors and encourage learning across different industries. Organisations like RenewableUK for example welcomed the Government's Green Jobs Taskforce and Power Sector Delivery group and highlighted that:
"It's important to recognise that, whilst renewables have specific skills requirements which have now been identified in detail, many of our skills shortages are shared with other sectors, and should be addressed holistically." - RenewableUK215