Government’s budget pledge to support renewable energy means UK unlikely to achieve offshore wind target, industry warns

Plans to support renewable energy announced in yesterday’s budget are unlikely to get the UK’s offshore wind back on track, the industry has warned.

Last year, the UK fell behind its target to build 50GW of offshore wind by 2030 when an auction round failed to attract a single bid.

The government’s pricing of contracts did not woo any new projects, despite prior warnings from industry it was too low.

In yesterday’s budget, the chancellor pledged a record £800m for this year’s offshore wind auction round, out of a record £1bn for renewable power overall.

That £800m is four times the amount offered last year, as Jeremy Hunt seeks to revive the maritime wind sector.

But, while industry welcomed the extra cash, it said it would only pay for around 3-5GW of new offshore wind, as recent inflation and competition in other markets have recently driven up costs.

With the chancellor focused on cutting spending in the run-up to the election, industry figures say they were disappointed but not surprised.

Renewable UK, the country’s leading not-for-profit renewable energy trade association, warned Britain was now unlikely to reach the 2030 target, which is seen as crucial to boosting clean, secure energy and ditching foreign gas.

Dan McGrail, chief executive of Renewable UK, said: “Uplift in clean energy budget is welcome, but opportunity to maximise offshore wind capacity in this year’s auction has been missed.”

The UK has 10GW of “eligible” offshore wind projects ready and waiting to go – meaning they have already gone through the arduous process of getting planning permission from the energy security department and agreements to connect to the National Grid.

“Building this is essential if we’re to make up lost ground from last year’s auction and create the substantial pipeline required to accelerate supply chain investment and growth in the UK,” Mr McGrail said.

The UK has around 15GW installed already and about 14GW in the pipeline, but now also needs to make up for last year’s flop.

Another industry body, Energy UK, said the funding announced for this year’s auctioning round means next year’s round would “have to acquire an unrealistic 16GW of offshore wind to reach the 50GW of offshore wind by 2030 target”.