Labour commits to 37 new wind farms in green industrial revolution election push

Pictured: The Walney Extension offshore windfarm off the coast of Blackpool. Image: Orsted.

The Labour leader visited a windfarm on Wednesday (9 October) as he launched his commitment to a further 37 offshore windfarms.

They would be built with a mixture of public and private finance as Labour members voted for stringent targets of net-zero emissions by 2030 at their autumn conference.

Under the party’s 10-year plan, the UK’s capacity for wind energy would increase by fivefold and benefit from an £83bn investment.

Corbyn also promised to give the public a controlling 51% stake in all new wind farms, with 20% of the profits for the taxpayer being invested back into coastal communities and 80% of public profits to be reinvested into decarbonising the economy and tackling climate change.

Before the visit, Corbyn said: “The full scale of the environment and climate emergency cannot be ignored. As scientists and activists have made clear, we need immediate and radical action to have any hope of keeping temperature rises to a manageable level.

“We know the big polluters and banks won’t take the necessary action. So the next Labour government will kick-start a green industrial revolution, protecting our planet and creating hundreds of thousands of high-wage, high-skill unionised jobs across the country and delivering investment for communities that have been held back for decades.

“Labour’s 10-year plan will provide the massive public investment needed to radically reduce our emissions and secure a future for our planet.”

Labour said the finance model would be joint-venture partnerships between publicly-owned Regional Energy Agencies (REAs) and existing offshore wind developers.

The Conservatives questioned why private investors would want to put money into windfarms part-owned by the government.

BEIS Minister Kwasi Kwarteng said: “Why would any investor put money into a nationalised windfarm?

“While Labour joins disruptive protests, it’s Boris Johnson and the Conservatives who have outlined practical steps to achieve our world-leading net-zero target, including delivering a major increase in offshore wind at record low prices, expanding electric vehicle use and making all new homes energy efficient.”

Rowena Mason

This article first appeared on the Guardian

edie is part of the Guardian Environment Network 

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