Conservatives pledge 40GW from offshore wind by 2030

Boris Johnson has announced that the Conservatives will accelerate the roll out of offshore wind power and electric vehicles charging points if the party wins next month’s general election.

In a speech, delivered at black cab manufacturer London Electric Vehicle Company in Coventry yesterday (13 November), the prime minister outlined his vision of Britain “leading the world” in tackling climate change.

Notes issued alongside the speech include a commitment by the Conservatives to increase the amount of electricity the UK gets from offshore wind by 2030 to 40GW.

This is an increase on the target of 30GW set out in the Offshore Wind Sector Deal, which industry and government signed in May this year.

It is also a near five-fold rise on the 8.5GW of capacity currently provided by offshore wind.

The Tories said that as well as working with the private sector to remove barriers to the rollout, it would put “additional support” in place to deliver the target and explore possibilities around floating wind turbines.

In the same announcement, the Conservatives said they would invest an additional £500 million to complete a fast-charging network for electric vehicles to ensure that every household in England and Wales is within 30 miles of a chargepoint.

This new sum is, they added, on top of the £400 million already pledged by the government for expanding the EV charging network.

The new £500 million will also support the Plug-in Van Grant Scheme and research and development into low and zero emission technology.

Benji Sykes, co-chair of the Offshore Wind Industry Council, welcomed the Conservatives commitment to boost deployment of the technology, the costs of delivering which have plummeted over the past five years.

Sykes, who is also UK country manager for Orsted, said: “It will boost our ability to reach net-zero emissions at low cost using a technology which can deliver at scale.

“Offshore wind is now cheaper than gas, nuclear and coal and creates tens of thousands of jobs. As the world leader in offshore wind, this is a technology that the UK is right to be proud of. We look forward to working with whichever party forms the next government to implement the actions we need to deliver an increased target for offshore wind.”

The Labour Party’s “30 by 2030” energy policy document, which was published last month, set out a target for a “nearly seven-fold increase” in UK offshore wind capacity by 2030 to 52GW, which would make it the largest single source of electricity generation.

Labour also pledged a two-and-a-half-fold increase in current level of onshore wind capacity by the same date to 30GW.

The Conservatives said they would invest £800 million in the transport and storage infrastructure for establishing Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) clusters in the next decade.

Luke Warren, chief executive of the Carbon Capture and Storage Association, said “Yesterday’s announcement of significant funding for CCS infrastructure, is extremely welcome. Building CCS infrastructure around the UK which can be shared by different sectors of our economy is key to delivering net zero and clean growth. This infrastructure can underpin the development of competitive, low-carbon industry, realise the hydrogen economy and deliver clean power plants and greenhouse gas removal technologies.

“Investing in CCS infrastructure can put the UK at the forefront of the low-carbon industrial revolution and create the clean industries of the future.

“We look forward to seeing the details of this policy announcement.”