UK energy minister Michael Shanks has pledged the government is ready to double down on delivery of its clean power 2030 agenda after spending the past year laying policy groundwork.
He told the Onshore Wind Conference 2025 today that it is a “hugely exciting time for the sector but one where ambition needs to move into delivery”.
“As we head deeper into the clean power mission, and the clock ticks ever closer to 2030, we’re going to need to speed up,” Shanks told delegates in Edinburgh.
Officials will “not be deterred by the political noises of those who would turn their back on energy security”, he added, referencing a political context around net zero that has “somewhat shifted in the last year”.
Both government and the renewables industry must now respond by being “even more unequivocal” in their support for delivering clean power, he said.
“We’ve made much progress (since entering government) and I hope we’ve set the momentum rolling to try and get us across the line on many difficult issues.
“Now need to go further and faster. Clean power is the economic opportunity of the 21st century and onshore wind is absolutely critical to how we deliver that.
“We are serious about this as a government because the stakes couldn’t be higher. If we pull this off, we’ll deliver an historic shift in our country’s energy story in matter of years.”
Shanks said the UK’s net zero economy is growing three time faster than the wider economy, with more than £40bn of private capital spent on clean energy projects over the past year.
“Critics would have us ditch net zero but somehow magically hold onto all that investment,” he said.
“Our clean power mission is the only path to true energy security in an increasingly uncertain world. It is the only way to get us off the roller coaster of volatile fossil fuels and to tackle the most existential crisis facing our planet, and the fundamental route to industrial renewal.”