UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has tipped the results of AR7 to provide the foundation for a “new era of energy sovereignty” by cutting the country’s reliance on fossil fuels.
Writing in the Guardian today (14 January) he said it would help the UK to “get off the rollercoaster” of energy imports where “Britain is a price-taker, not a price-maker”.
Miliband also took aim at critics of the UK Government’s Clean Power 2030 mission.
He said a “well-funded right-wing network” had waged a “relentless war” against ministers’ arguments that increasing the supply of domestic renewable energy will lower electricity bills.
Miliband claimed the auction had reinforced London’s position by securing 8.4GW of offshore wind capacity at a strike price (up to £90.91 per megawatt-hour) that is around 40% cheaper than procuring new gas-fired generation.
“When (Prime Minister) Keir Starmer set out our mission for clean power by 2030, it said it couldn’t be done, or that even if it could, it was the wrong choice,” he said.
“Today’s historic auction has proved the doubters wrong.”
Miliband added the results would mean future generations growing up in a country “that controls its own energy destiny, and produces enough to meet our roaring demand for new homes, new towns and new industry” while also benefiting from other economic benefits.
He said: “This record result represents a major step forward for our industrial strategy, as we seize the opportunities of clean energy to meet the demand of the British people for the good jobs of the future.
“These projects will create thousands of jobs for engineers, technicians and factory workers and unlock £22bn of investment in Britain, as we advance towards the 100,000 offshore wind jobs our mission will support by the end of the decade.”