UK aims to quadruple offshore wind power in renewable energy push
The UK government is aiming to triple the number of solar panels, more than quadruple offshore wind power and double onshore wind and nuclear energy by 2030, in a move that could lower bills for consumers and reduce the UK’s reliance on foreign energy suppliers such as Russia.
Kwasi Kwarteng, the business minister, has put forward the targets as part of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s plans for inclusion in the upcoming energy security white paper.
The paper has faced delays because the cost of approving at least six nuclear power stations as part of an expansion of the UK’s renewable energy strategy has been debated at the Treasury.
BEIS’s targets include increasing solar power from its current capacity of 14GW to 50GW, offshore wind from 11GW to 50GW, onshore wind from 15GW to 30GW, and nuclear power from 7GW to 16GW, according to the Financial Times.
Solar power and onshore wind generation have, to date, not had official government growth targets.
Earlier this month, Kwarteng said that developing the UK’s energy independence was a matter of national security.
<p lang=«en» dir=«ltr» xml:lang=«en»>This is no longer about tackling climate change or reaching Net Zero targets. Ensuring the UK’s clean energy independence is a matter of national security. Putin can set the price of gas, but he can’t directly control the price of renewables and nuclear we generate in the UK. pic.twitter.com/1WNLnBV7q5Boris Johnson has set out a 10-point plan that includes a target for the UK to get all of its electricity from low-carbon sources by 2035.
The expansion of wind and solar farms is likely to be opposed by some local residents and campaign groups.
Johnson, who has said that his personal preference is to
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