Offshore energy plea to Ministers

The chief executive of Britain's green energy trade body Renewables UK, Maria McCaffery, said that despite daily contact with the new coalition Government there is "still no clear indication" of what its policies will be on offshore wind farms.

The burgeoning industry is expected to become a vital growth sector for the country over the coming years, with particular significance for Yorkshire following the unveiling of plans for two huge new wind farms off the north-east coast at Hornsea and Dogger Bank.

The Yorkshire Post is campaigning for the Humber to become a thriving manufacturing hub for the 2,500 new turbines which will be required, potentially creating tens of thousands of jobs along the regional supply chain for many years to come.

But last week questionmarks emerged over the new Government's commitment to a 60m competition for funding to upgrade east coast port facilities. The promise of improved port infrastructure was seen as a key reason why turbine manufacturers GE, Mitsubishi and Siemens had all pledged to establish factories somewhere along the east coast over the next few years.

Speaking yesterday at the offshore wind industry's annual conference in Liverpool, Ms McCaffery said it was "vital" the Government maintained the ports funding and made it clear huge potential gains were being put at risk.

"We are meeting today at a time of unique opportunity for this industry, but also a time of extreme uncertainty - uncertainty that we are looking at the Government to end," she said.

"We have a new Government, one that is just as committed we believe to offshore wind as the previous one, but one which is still formulating the ideas that will drive forward the agenda.

"There is still no clear indication of the eventual path the coalition will take."

The Government is due to publish an action plan this week outlining how it will meet its obligations for 15 per cent of the UK's energy to come from renewable sources by 2020. Ms McCaffery warned that if targets for offshore wind generation in the UK were set too low, the 70,000 new jobs and 100bn of private investment predicted over the next decade would simply head to the continent instead.

She said a previous target to generate 12GW of electricity – around 10 per cent of the UK's power supply – from offshore wind by 2020 was far too low.

"I'd like to make it absolutely clear to the Government that 12GW of offshore wind by 2020 represents an unacceptable poverty of ambition," she added.

"If the UK has deployed only that much, we shall have repeated the policy mistakes of onshore wind, missed the enormous opportunity to build a UK supply chain, and failed to make the green shift to a low carbon economy."

Conference delegates also heard from the project leader for the proposed Dogger Bank wind farm, which will become the largest in the world when it is constructed about 100 miles off the Yorkshire coast over the next decade.

Mark Thomas, of the energy consortium Forewind, said an official announcement would be made "in the next couple of weeks" detailing exactly where the first tranche of turbines would be built.