Net Zero? No New Offshore Wind for UK

However,
no
offshore
wind
contracts,
seen
as
the
backbone
of
the
UK’s
green
electricity
ambitions,
were
included
this
year,
the
government
announced.

It
puts
a
dent
in
ministers’
promise
to
deliver
50
gigawatts
of
offshore
wind
by
2030,
from
14GW
today.

Wind
farm
builders
had
warned
for
months
that
the
government,
which
sets
a
maximum
price
that
companies
are
allowed
to
charge,
was
not
taking
into
account
how
much
their
costs
had
soared
during
the
cost-of-living
crisis,
which
has
also
pushed
up
prices
for
businesses.

“The
economics
simply
did
not
stand
up,”
the
chief
executive
of
ScottishPower
said
on
Friday
after
the
result.

Energy
and
climate
change
minister
Graham
Stuart
said:
“Offshore
wind
is
central
to
our
ambitions
to
decarbonise
our
electricity
supply
and
our
ambition
to
build
50GW
of
offshore
wind
capacity
by
2030,
including
up
to
5GW
of
floating
wind,
remains
firm.

“The
UK
installed
300
new
turbines
last
year
and
we
will
work
with
industry
to
make
sure
we
retain
our
global
leadership
in
this
vital
technology.”

One
industry
source
said:
“There
is
no
offshore
wind
and
that’s
the
backbone
of
our
transition
to
clean
energy
and
attempts
to
stop
using
gas,
which
must
be
a
worry
for
Government.”

In
a
press
release,
the
government
said
that
the
scheme
was
“set
to
deliver
3.7
GW
of
homegrown
energy”.
It
did
not
mention
that
last
year’s
auction
granted
contracts
for
11
GW.

The
UK
has
for
years
been
a
world
leader
in
offshore
wind,
second
only
to
China
in
the
amount
of
power
that
its
turbines
can
produce.

It
has
been
a
major
British
success
story
and
helped
customers
save
hundreds
of
millions
of
pounds
during
the
recent
energy
crisis.

Experts
warned
that
this
could
lead
to
higher
energy
bills
for
British
households.
Producing
offshore
wind
used
to
be
expensive,
but
after
years
of
innovation
and
building
up
scale,
the
price
of
supplying
wind
power
to
British
homes
had
dropped
dramatically.

New
offshore
wind
turbines
now
produce
electricity
at
a
considerably
cheaper
rate
than
gas
power
plants.
The
price
of
gas
has
soared
after
Russia’s
full-scale
invasion
of
Ukraine.

Keith
Anderson,
chief
executive
of
ScottishPower,
which
is
one
of
the
key
builders
of
wind
power
in
the
UK,
said
that
offshore
wind
is
still
one
of
the
cheapest
ways
to
generate
electricity.

“This
is
a
multibillion-pound
lost
opportunity
to
deliver
low-cost
energy
for
consumers,
and
a
wake-up
call
for
government,”
he
said.

“ScottishPower
is
in
the
business
of
building
wind
farms
and
our
track
record
is
second-to-none
in
terms
of
getting
projects
over
the
line
when
others
haven’t
been
able
to.
But
the
economics
simply
did
not
stand
up
this
time
around.”

Greenpeace
UK’s
policy
director,
Doug
Parr,
said:
“This
monumental
failure
is
the
biggest
disaster
for
clean
energy
in
almost
a
decade.

“Thanks
to
cost
pressures
and
inept
government
policy,
this
auction
round
has
completely
flopped
–
denying
bill
payers
access
to
cheap,
clean
energy
and
putting
the
UK’s
legally
binding
target
of
decarbonising
power
by
2035
in
greater
jeopardy.
It
leaves
the
UK
more
dependent
on
expensive,
imported
fossil
gas.”

Labour
shadow
energy
security
&
net
zero
secretary
Ed
Miliband
said:
“Ministers
were
warned
time
and
again
that
this
would
happen,
but
they
did
not
listen.

“They
simply
don’t
understand
how
to
deliver
the
green
sprint,
and
Rishi
Sunak’s
government
is
too
weak
and
divided
to
deliver
the
clean
power
Britain
needs.”

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