Government lays out plans for UK to be powered by wind by 2020
December 11th 2007

The Government has laid out plans for the creation of 33 gigawatts of offshore wind energy to be put in place in Britain by 2020.

Business secretary John Hutton made the proposals speaking at the European Wind Energy Conference 2008 in Brussels.

Hutton also announced that he will chair a panel of experts to advise him on renewable energy, underscoring the UK Government's determination to play its part in meeting the EU target of 20% renewable energy by 2020.

"The draft plan I'm setting out could allow companies to develop up to 25 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2020, in addition to the 8 gigawatts already planned," said Hutton.

"This potential major expansion will be subject to the outcome of a Strategic Environmental Assessment. But if we could manage to achieve this, by 2020 enough electricity could be generated off our shores to power the equivalent of all of the UK's homes. This could be a major contribution towards meeting the EU's target of 20% of energy from renewable sources by 2020.

"The challenge for Government and for industry is to turn this potential - for our energy and economy - into a cost-effective reality. This will be a major challenge.

"The UK has some of the best offshore wind resource in the world, a long history of design, installation and operational expertise in the offshore environment and the skills and manufacturing capability to transfer to this exciting new sector.

"The UK is now the number one location for investment in offshore wind in the world and next year we will overtake Denmark as the country with the most offshore wind capacity. I want to ensure the UK remains one of the best places for renewable business.

"Our trajectory on renewables is beyond question. They are as central to our future low carbon economy as chimneys were to the industrial revolution and road building following the invention of the mass produced car."

More articles from WEE newsdesk: