RenewableUK has welcomed commitments made in a speech today (June 15) by the Labour MP and Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero, Ed Miliband, at the Global Offshore Wind 2023 conference and exhibition in London. During his keynote address to industry leaders, Mr Miliband said:
"Governments need a North Star to guide their decisions and that of investors. Ours is to decarbonise our electricity system by 2030. That means more than quadrupling offshore wind - to 55GW offshore fixed and another 5GW floating by 2030.
"It will mean lower bills, more jobs, energy security, and climate leadership. We are under no illusions about the scale of the task. But we will work with business to remove all of the barriers that stand in its way, public and private sectors working together to deliver for Britain. We know we can make it happen.
He added: "We know that we have a big task ahead to turn the surge in renewable power into a jobs surge for Britain, and that's why we believe an active industrial policy is so necessary. It means us as Government making investments that private sector companies on their own won't necessarily make - the obvious example of this is investment in our ports. We must also plan for the skilled workforce we need so that people can see jobs in their communities being delivered, just as we see clean power being delivered, and the jobs in your industry are a byword for good, well-paid skilled workers".
Responding to Mr Miliband's speech, RenewableUK's CEO Dan McGrail said:
"We welcome Labour's commitments to set ambitious targets for offshore wind and to remove longstanding barriers so that we can step up the pace at which we build new projects. New offshore wind developments do not only increase Britain's energy security - they also drive down energy bills due to their low cost.
"We have already seen that the UK can land major investments in offshore wind manufacturing, creating thousands of jobs across the country. But with other countries now competing with us for future investment, we need to continue to make the UK a competitive place to locate. That's why I'm pleased to see Labour outlining a number of policies focused on increasing investment in our supply chain, and that Ed Miliband is proactively engaging with industry leaders to discuss how to deliver the 120,000 jobs which could come by 2030 as a result of their offshore wind ambitions."
More details on our Global Offshore Wind 2023 conference at exhibition at ExCeL in London are available here.
Notes:
- RenewableUK's members are building our future energy system, powered by clean electricity. We bring them together to deliver that future faster; a future which is better for industry, billpayers, and the environment. We support over 470 member companies to ensure increasing amounts of renewable electricity are deployed across the UK and to access export markets all over the world. Our members are business leaders, technology innovators, and expert thinkers from right across industry.
- RenewableUK's full events programme is available here.
For further information, please contact:
Robert Norris, Head of Communications 07969 229 913 Robert.Norris@RenewableUK.com
