UK government cuts offshore wind ambition in dash for 2030 green goal
Action plan promises measures on grid and planning, as well as reforms to spur offshore wind growth but to level below 60GW previously foreseen
Britain's government cut its ambition for offshore wind as it unveiled a raft of measures designed to propel it to a near-decarbonised electricity system as soon as 2030.
The recently elected Labour government claimed the policy package, called the Clean Power Action Plan, amounts to “the most ambitious reforms to our energy system in generations” that can get the UK to a point where 95% of its generation is from zero-carbon sources such as wind, solar and nuclear, with a residual "strategic" role for gas.
The plan, which the government reckons will spur £40bn ($50.5bn) a year of mainly private investment, includes ending the UK’s ‘first come first served’ grid connection system to prioritise projects that could be ready for 2030 and bringing large onshore wind projects under national major infrastructure rules, reducing the potential for planning blockages at local level.
The UK said its “high ambition” plan includes 27-29GW of onshore wind and 45-47GW of solar. “These will be complemented by flexible capacity, including 23-27GW of battery capacity and 4-6GW of long duration energy storage.”
The government said it is also looking at reforms to renewable energy auctions that can more rapidly deliver offshore wind, which will be the “backbone” of the UK’s clean generation fleet.
However, the capacity range included in the plan foresees 43-50GW of offshore wind by the end of the decade.
The Labour Party under Prime Minister Keir Starmer had previously said it wanted to quadruple offshore wind capacity from the present level of around 15GW, implying a roughly 60GW fleet by 2030.
The UK’s National Energy System Operator (NESO) said in a report in November that the 43-50GW was what was needed for the UK to hit its 2030 green goals, opening the way for a retreat from what many in the industry saw as an unrealistic 60GW target.
The government wants "to secure at least 12GW across the next two to three allocation rounds – AR7, AR8 and, depending on the speed at which projects deploy, AR9".
The plan said: “We will consider changes to the information the secretary of state can use to inform the final budget for fixed-bottom offshore wind, an auction schedule to improve transparency and predictability, and review auction parameters, including our approach to the reference prices used to estimate the budgetary impact of bids.
“To maximise the competitive process, we are also minded to relax eligibility criteria for fixed-bottom offshore wind projects so projects that have yet to obtain full planning consents can participate. We will consult on these changes ahead of AR7.”
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