UK Govt Considering Boost to Wind Farm Subsidies to Save Net Zero
Ed Miliband is quietly plotting a massive wind farm subsidy surge that could send household energy bills soaring in a bid to salvage his Net Zero ambitions. The Telegraph’s Jonathan Leake has the story.
The Energy Secretary is preparing to ditch key limits on the cash diverted from bills to turbine developers, the Telegraph can reveal.
The manoeuvre, uncovered in official documents, is expected to allow Mr Miliband to bankroll thousands of extra turbines in the next few years.
He has pledged to make Britain’s electricity supply 95% carbon-free by that date. The target has been attacked as a “fantasy” by the Conservatives, partly because there are too few offshore wind projects in the pipeline.
That problem was exacerbated last week with Ørsted’s decision to abandon its massive Hornsea 4 scheme to build 180 giant turbines off Yorkshire, giving 2.4 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity – enough for 2.6 million homes on a windy day.
To accelerate wind farm construction, Mr Miliband wants to scrap limits on the total subsidy on offer to offshore developers in Whitehall auctions.
Instead a target would be set for the amount of electricity to be generated, with the cost to households only worked out afterwards.
A Whitehall insider agreed costs could rise initially, suggesting that the investment in renewables now would bring prices down in years to come.
“It means short-term pain in energy bills, for long-term gain,” he said.
The scheme was revealed in a paper from Mr Miliband’s Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). “In place of a budget, the Government would publish a capacity ambition,” it said.
Mr Miliband wants between 43GW and 50GW of offshore wind by 2030. Only 16GW is operational so far, with another 12.6GW in planning. That leaves a shortfall of about 15GW just to hit the minimum, which would broadly mean adding an extra 1,500 giant 10-megawatt turbines to the 1,500 already planned.
These must all be commissioned in the next couple of years to be working by 2030 – but developers are demanding extra subsidies to undertake the massive challenge.
Worth reading in full.
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