Ed Miliband says £1.1bn a year to be set aside for new offshore wind projects | Wind power

Energy minister Ed Miliband has set aside £1.1bn a year for offshore wind energy developers investing in new projects in the latest round of funding aimed at meeting the UK’s green electricity targets.

government ministry of energy in question Today it has set aside a budget of £900 million to pay developers of fixed offshore wind turbines and £180 million for floating platforms.

Renewable energy provided around half of the UK’s electricity in 2024; The wind’s share is 30% of the generation they overtook gas power plants for the first time. Greater investments in wind and solar energy will be required to achieve the target of completely eliminating carbon emissions from Britain’s electricity supply by 2030.

Government sources have previously said ministers may consider abandoning the 2030 target, which has long been seen as overly ambitious by experts, if it adds too much to household bills. The Labor government’s clean electricity target is opposed by the Conservative Party and Reform, who say they will abandon net zero policies.

A government source disputed that the 2030 target was in doubt, saying the first budget for offshore wind showed “huge support from the Treasury”.

Wind energy developers, which are expected to include energy companies SSE, RWE and ScottishPower, will be invited to bid to build offshore wind projects that will be eligible to receive the new funds.

Unlike previous years, the final budget could increase further if ministers consider a sufficient number of projects provide value for money; could potentially exceed the £1.1 billion allocated to offshore wind last year. In order to attract lower prices, contracts will last 20 years instead of 15.

But RenewableUK, an industry lobby group, said the budget would only cover a quarter of the 20 gigawatt projects that have planning permission and are eligible. Ana Musat, the group’s chief policy officer, said: “The budget announced today will not maximize investment in new offshore wind farms.”

Chris Stark, the civil servant who led Britain’s clean energy efforts under Miliband, said he expected the proposals to exceed funding for captive offshore wind. He said in a social media post that the government was ready to “award more offshore wind generation contracts if we see value for money for the consumer”.

Secretary of State for Energy Michael Shanks said: “This auction is another step towards delivering the clean energy this country needs to end our dependence on volatile global gas prices, ensure our energy security and lower utility bills altogether.

“Our competitive new auction process will allow us to buy the right amount of clean energy at the right price on behalf of the British public, so we can take back control of our energy.”

The full budget allocated by the government may not be spent, but instead represents a “worst case” cost under the “contracts for difference” (CfD) scheme, reducing the risk of developers investing in clean energy production.

Within the scope of the program, the government sets a threshold for the prices of electricity produced from projects. If prices are below this bar, called the strike price, the government makes up the difference, and producers must repay the government for profits above this price. The full budget will only be spent if energy prices remain lower than expected for an extended period of time.

Jess Ralston, head of energy at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, a think tank, said: “Every free wind and solar power we use means we have to buy less foreign gas from abroad, improving our energy security.”