New offshore windfarms will be strangled by government red tape, costing UK billpayers £1.5bn a year, an analysis has found.
The latest government auction for new offshore windfarms, due to be completed in September, could result in few projects making it through Treasury rules, according to the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), a non-profit organisation.
Rules set by the Treasury do not take account of predictions that the gas price will stay high and put an arbitrary limit on the number of farms that can be contracted.
Energy experts have criticised the government for giving tax breaks to oil companies and not allowing windfarms to thrive.
Jess Ralston, an energy analyst at the ECIU, said: “The government seems to be focused on North Sea gas licences and tax breaks for oil companies that won’t bring down bills, while tying up offshore wind farms that generate electricity cheaper than gas in red tape.
A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: “We do not recognise these figures – last year’s Contracts for Difference scheme auction was the largest ever, issuing contracts to nearly 100 clean tech projects, and we increased this year’s budget to reflect the large volume of eligible applications received.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
New offshore windfarms will be strangled by government red tape, costing UK billpayers £1.5bn a year, an analysis has found.
The latest government auction for new offshore windfarms, due to be completed in September, could result in few projects making it through Treasury rules, according to the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), a non-profit organisation.
Rules set by the Treasury do not take account of predictions that the gas price will stay high and put an arbitrary limit on the number of farms that can be contracted.
Energy experts have criticised the government for giving tax breaks to oil companies and not allowing windfarms to thrive.
Jess Ralston, an energy analyst at the ECIU, said: “The government seems to be focused on North Sea gas licences and tax breaks for oil companies that won’t bring down bills, while tying up offshore wind farms that generate electricity cheaper than gas in red tape.
A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: “We do not recognise these figures – last year’s Contracts for Difference scheme auction was the largest ever, issuing contracts to nearly 100 clean tech projects, and we increased this year’s budget to reflect the large volume of eligible applications received.
I’m a bot and I’m open source!