The government used the occasion of the Future of Energy Security summit in London to announce plans for £300 million of public investment in domestic wind supply chains and publish an open letter inviting clean energy companies to manage “uncertain trading conditions” by focusing their investment in the UK. The letter comes soon after US President Donald Trump used executive orders to halt US offshore wind developments.
The new £300 million fund will provide grant funding to key supply chain projects across the fixed and floating offshore wind sector, supporting the domestic manufacture of critical and innovative components. The government said, “A key goal will be to crowd in private sector investment to deliver maximum impact” it added, “This significant fund demonstrates our commitment to supporting UK supply chains: it is intended to provide industry with the confidence to boost UK investment and will support thousands of additional jobs.”
The open letter was signed by Ed Miliband MP Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Jonathan Reynolds MP, Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Baroness Gustafsson of Chesterton CBE Minister for Investment, Department for Business and Trade and His Majesty’s Treasury, Professor Jürgen Maier, Chair of Great British Energy Group Limited and John Flint, CEO of National Wealth Fund Limited.
It said, “we know that uncertain trading conditions mean that companies are thinking hard about where to invest their resources. Collectively and separately, we stand ready to work with your business to explain our policy framework, the clear action being taken to deliver on this framework and the institutions we have put in place to accelerate private investment into clean energy across the UK.”
It highlights the commitments deliver a clean power system by 2030 and to accelerate to net zero as “a whole of government effort”, saying “This mission and framework are designed to provide certainty and stability to investors and developers like you”.
It also highlighted regulator Ofgem’s approval of “ambitious pro-growth reforms to the electricity grid connections process to ensure that clean energy projects we need will get plugged in to the grid as a matter of urgency”. It noted that “The reforms will also allow connections for demand, such as industrial investments and data centres, to be accelerated”.
The letter promised a “Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan as part of the Industrial Strategy” later this spring, which it said would “ emphasise the importance of clean energy supply chains in the UK and how critical investment into these is”.
It concluded by saying “In all of us, you will find the most willing partners, united in our belief that in this uncertain world, the UK represents the best place to do business and to capitalise on the enormous opportunities offered by the clean energy transition and our modern Industrial Strategy”.