Kwarteng signals raised floating wind power target

Kwasi Kwarteng has signalled an increased target for floating offshore wind power as part of the government’s soon-to-be-unveiled energy independence plan for the UK.

During a House of Commons debate on Wednesday (10 March) on his announcement that the government is banning Russian oil imports, which also saw the secretary of state for business and energy moderate his hardline stance against fracked gas, he was pressed to accelerate the rollout of floating offshore wind.

Responding to a question from North Devon Conservative MP Selaine Saxby, who called on the government to increase the south west’s offshore wind capacity, Kwarteng said: “Floating offshore wind is key to accelerating our renewables offer. In the next few days, we will hopefully be setting some slightly more ambitious targets for our 2030 ambition than we have hitherto seen.”

The government currently has a target to roll out 1GW of power from floating turbines by 2030 as part of a wider goal to increase offshore wind capacity to 40GW by the same date, but the industry has said it can deliver more.

Kwarteng told MPs that the energy independence plan will include renewable and nuclear power, building on Boris Johnson’s existing 10-point plan for a green industrial revolution.

Probed on whether the government will lift the moratorium on fracking for shale gas, he said conversations are continuing with the prime minister.

“We were clear that it did not necessarily make any sense to concrete over the wells. We are still in conversation about that.

“Our position on the moratorium has always been the same: if fracking can be done in a safe and sustainable way, the government are open to the idea.”

The government has come under pressure from backbenchers in the Net Zero Scrutiny Group to relax its moratorium on fracking, which was introduced by Kwarteng following concerns that the gas extraction process could cause earthquakes when he was minister of state for energy.

However, Wednesday also saw a Treasury minister express doubts about the contribution that fracked gas could make to improving the UK’s in the short term.

At a meeting later in the afternoon of the Environmental Audit Committee, exchequer secretary Helen Whately said: “Fracking wouldn’t suddenly solve the challenges we have with the price of gas and wouldn’t materially move the gas price.”

She also rebuffed a call for a referendum to be held on the government’s target to cut UK emissions to net zero by 2050.

Responding to a question from backbench Tory MP Christopher Chope about the government’s stance on putting the emissions reduction target to a public vote, Whately said: “When we were elected on a manifesto commitment that included delivery of net zero by 2050 it was quite clear that many of the votes we received were broadly in support of that direction of travel.”

She said the government remains committed to the transition to net zero, which will increase the UK’s energy self-sufficiency and resilience, but that it wanted to see an “orderly transition” away from fossil fuels towards lower carbon sources of power,

Responding to Kwarteng during the earlier Commons debate, shadow energy and climate change secretary Ed Miliband urged the government to “finally end” the “effective moratorium” on planning permission for new onshore wind in England, which has been in place since 2015.

He said: “We have to go much further and faster in developing home-grown zero-carbon power, including renewables and nuclear, which can free us from the whims of autocrats and dictators who can use fossil fuels as a geopolitical weapon.”

Mick Whitley, Labour MP for Birkenhead, said a resumption of fracking would be a “betrayal of the commitments” that the UK made at the recent COP 26 climate conference in Glasgow to curb fossil fuel use.

Ex-communities and local government secretary of state Robert Jenrick said the current crisis requires a “more pragmatic” approach to energy policy, which may mean a fresh look at fracking, alongside accelerated investment in renewables and a potential lifting of the onshore wind moratorium.