Offshore wind will power the UK’s energy transition, according to the government's ten-point plan for a green industrial revolution.
In a new blueprint for the country’s energy transition, the Conservative government reaffirmed the 40GW by 2030 offshore wind target it had outlined in its 2019 election manifesto.
The ten-point plan includes £12 billion (€13.3 billion) of government investment in offshore wind, hydrogen, nuclear, electrical vehicles and other sectors key to a UK-wide energy transition.
UK prime minister Boris Johnson hopes this investment can spur more than three times as much private-sector investment by 2030.
He added that the plan for a green industrial revolution would support up to 250,000 UK jobs. It is not clear whether these will be new, permanent or full-time jobs.
Industry groups and climate think tanks welcomed the announcement, with RenewableUK describing a new target for 5GW of low-carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030 as a “vital signal to investors and the market”.
The trade body's deputy chief executive, Melanie Onn, added: "Offshore wind is set to become the backbone of the UK’s electricity system, providing over a third of our power by 2030, and we can rapidly develop green hydrogen to decarbonise shipping, aviation and industry.”
However, the chair of the Climate Change Committee, Lord Deben urged: “This must now be turned into a detailed road map – so we all know what’s coming down the track in the years ahead.” The committee advises the government on climate policy.
The plan also includes measures to end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2030, develop large and smaller-scale nuclear plants, and remove 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by the end of the decade.
