ABP: Pioneering offshore wind from the Port of Lowestoft

Location: Lowestoft, with ports nationwide

As the UK’s largest port operator, ABP helps the UK’s industry stay connected via its 21 ports across England, Scotland and Wales. Increasingly, those ports are playing a central role in driving forward the clean energy sector, providing the facilities and connectivity required to help businesses like ScottishPower develop offshore wind farms and other renewable energy projects.

At a glance:

UK’s largest port operator, with ports across England, Scotland and Wales
Partnering with ScottishPower Renewables in Lowestoft since 2019
£35 million invested in new infrastructure to strengthen Lowestoft’s role in the UK offshore wind industry

Associated British Ports (ABP) is the UK’s largest port owner and operator, with ports in three British nations handling around a quarter of the UK’s seaborne trade worth £157 billion. Increasingly, those ports are playing a central role in driving forward the clean energy sector, providing the facilities and connectivity required to help businesses like ScottishPower develop offshore wind farms and other renewable energy projects.

ABP and ScottishPower Renewables’ partnership is an example of how the UK’s future energy sector is being built and shaped in our coastal communities. In Lowestoft, ABP has formed a long-term partnership with ScottishPower Renewables, working together since 2019 when ScottishPower opened its first operations and maintenance base at Hamilton Dock to support the development of its East Anglia ONE offshore wind farm. The partnership has established Lowestoft and the East of England as one of the UK’s most significant hubs for offshore wind, with the port now enabling 350 direct offshore wind jobs in the UK.

In turn, ABP has been able to make significant investments of its own in the area. £35 million has been invested in its Lowestoft Eastern Energy Facility (LEEF) to create new deep-water berths and modern utilities and infrastructure, designed to support the future needs of the UK’s offshore energy sector. For ScottishPower Renewables, the facility will be vital for operating and maintaining its East Anglia TWO and East Anglia THREE offshore wind farms.

Both ABP and ScottishPower are making long-term investments in Lowestoft, helping cement its transition from fishing to the offshore wind energy capital of the UK. In turn, making it a vital source of future jobs, opportunity, and continued growth for the region.