Ed Miliband ‘poised to miss' 2030 offshore wind targets
The Energy Secretary's ambition for British offshore windfarm capacity to hit 43 gigawatts (GW) by the end of the decade is looking out of reach, analysis by BloombergNEF found.
Mr Miliband will fall 10GW short of his target, the energy research consultancy predicted.
It comes after Ørsted recently pulled out of plans to double the size of the Hornsea project off the East Yorkshire coast. The Danish offshore wind developer, which is the world's largest, blamed its decision on rising costs. The expansion would have generated enough electricity to power 2.6m homes.
Energy giant SSE is also slowing investment in a project to build the world's largest offshore wind farm on Scotland's east coast. The project was met with resistance from wildlife charities, which claimed it would kill and displace 31,000 seabirds.
Efforts to expand offshore wind have been struggling in the face of high interest rates, difficulties in sourcing components and an expected decline in long-term electricity prices.
This has rendered some government subsidy contracts, known as contracts for difference, unviable. A contract for difference guarantees developers a minimum price for their electricity once it is generated. However, ballooning costs mean some agreements struck in the past no longer make financial sense.
BloombergNEF warned that these challenges meant only a small number of the 16.6GW-worth of planned wind projects would actually go ahead.
Despite the forecast that Mr Miliband will miss his 43GW target, BloombergNEF said the Energy Secretary could still achieve his overall target of gas supplying only 5pc of electricity generated by the end of the decade if the weather proves 'reasonably windy'.
In better news, BloombergNEF also said the UK was poised to meet Mr Miliband's 47GW to 50GW ambition for solar power by 2030.
A spokesman for the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero said: 'We categorically reject these claims.
'We have a strong pipeline of projects to deliver 43GW-50GW offshore wind by 2030 and our mission-led approach ensures we can steer our way through global pressures and individual commercial decisions to reach our targets.
'Through our mission we will deliver an energy system that brings energy bills down for good and bolsters Britain's energy security as part of our plan for change.'
In another blow to the Energy Secretary, The Telegraph reported last week that a massive hydrogen project at the heart of his net zero plans is also under threat.
BP's H2Teeside scheme had been poised to deliver more than 10pc of Mr Miliband's overall clean power target by 2030, but the energy giant may now scrap or scale it back.
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