·        Industry warns against ‘moderating’ offshore wind target

·        Nuclear cost assumptions ‘optimistic’

·        UK’s world leading offshore sector needs confidence, not doubt and prevarication

In the wake of today’s Committee on Climate Change (CCC) report, RenewableUK warned against reducing the nation’s 2020 target for offshore wind. The report recommends that “if a set of alternative options can be found to meet the EU renewable energy target, then offshore wind ambition in 2020 could be moderated.”  RenewableUK maintains that offshore wind is the technology most likely to deliver in the time frame and on the scale required, while providing a high degree of cost certainty.

While the industry has been reassured by the CCC’s confidence that 2020 targets are achievable, it has called for a realistic assessment of costs and constraints, and a level playing field for all forms of technologies. It has also reminded that a host of studies has predicted a fall in the cost of delivery for offshore wind, while some of the current costs of delivering nuclear remain optimistic.  

“The current 2020 target for offshore wind is already below what the industry can deliver. Back-tracking on the target even further makes no sense: the UK’s world leading offshore sector needs confidence, not doubt and prevarication. We are looking forward to the Government’s response to this report in the delivery roadmap next month, which we anticipate to be much more ambitious”, concluded McCaffery.