UK government acts to give price support for offshore wind energy
The Guardian reports, 4th December 2013: “The government has responded to a growing investment crisis with the country’s offshore wind programme by pulling back on plans to make heavy cuts in subsidies for the power source.
Thanet offshore windfarm, near Ramsgate, Kent.
Photograph: Antonio Olmos
After the German firm RWE told of its plans to shelve the 240-turbine Atlantic Array windfarm off Devon, the energy department announced the “strike price” (predetermined price) would be £140 a megawatt hour for 2017-18 and not the planned lesser amount of £135. Ed Davey, the energy secretary, said the measures would unleash £40bn of extra investment in carbon-friendly electricity generation.
Davey said the UK was now on track to double the amount of electricity generated from renewables, from 15% to 30% by 2020, with an expected 10GW of capacity in place generated by offshore wind.
Financial support for onshore wind farms and large-scale solar schemes that have sometimes caused controversy has been reduced faster than expected under the regime at the Department of Energy and Climate Change as these maturing technologies have become increasingly competitive with fossil fuels.
The upbeat message from Davey was endorsed by Dong Energy, a Danish company at the forefront of the offshore wind power “revolution” being pioneered by Britain but opposed by some on cost grounds. “We welcome the announcements from the government on… the strike prices today,” said Brent Cheshire, Dong’s UK chairman. “The strong commitment to offshore wind demonstrated by the government today gives us the confidence to move forward with our future pipeline of projects.”
Source: The Guardian, 4th December 2013. For the full text see http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/dec/04/ed-davey-support-offshore-wind-power
