The United Kingdom’s current Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has promised to deliver even more offshore wind power if his Conservative Party are returned to power in the country’s impromptu election to be held December 12, promising to increase the 2030 offshore wind target from 30 gigawatts (GW) to 40 GW.
Caught in the mire of Brexit, the UK’s former Prime Minister Theresa May left office and was replaced in July by Boris Johnson, who beat out Jeremy Hunt for the position. Since then, the ardent Brexiteer in Number 10 Downing Street has been pushing to follow through on the 2016 Referendum which returned a marginal majority in favour of exiting the European Union. However, things have not been smooth sailing for Johnson or the Conservative Party at large, and with multiple Brexit deals voted down by British Parliament, Johnson moved to hold a new election upon which the future of the UK as a member of the European Union hangs.
In an attempt to gin up further support to be returned as Prime Minister, Boris Johnson and the Conservative Party last week promised to increase the country’s offshore wind energy target, from 30 GW to 40 GW by 2030.
The UK passed its much-anticipated Offshore Wind Sector Deal back in the early part of 2019, which enshrined a goal of generating more than 30% of the country’s electricity from offshore wind by 2030 — which would amount to at least 30 GW, up from levels of 7.9 GW at the time.
Johnson’s new promise would see offshore wind increase from 8.5 GW of offshore wind today to 40 GW by 2030, a move praised by the UK offshore industry.
“We welcome this commitment to expand offshore wind in the UK, as it will boost our ability to reach net-zero emissions at low cost using a technology which can deliver at scale,” said co-chair of the Offshore Wind Industry Council, Benj Sykes, UK country manager for Ørsted.
“The announcement contains a key commitment to taking cross-Government actions to enable us to reach 40GW by 2030.
“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.”