Achieving near-net zero emissions by 2050 through electrification of the economy will result in the annual demand for electricity to soar to at least 10,700 TWh, with daily peak demand reaching over 2,100 GW in the winter. A diverse portfolio of clean energy technologies, buoyed by highly productive and widely deployed offshore wind, is critical to ensuring future grid dependability with the anticipated increase in energy demand through 2050. Not only is offshore wind an abundant resource, its generation patterns are particularly complementary to existing land-based wind and solar and well-matched to electricity demand trends. Over the course of an average year, offshore wind can pair with land-based solar, wind, and battery storage to provide nearly 90% of total electricity generation in 2050.
National average hourly generation dispatch in the High Ambition scenario, January, April, and August, 2050.
