Visiting a port in North Wales today, Labour Party leader Keir Starmer (pictured) is expected to confirm that the publicly-owned Great British Energy will invest in Britain’s growing floating offshore wind industry.
This has potential to support the creation of tens of thousands of skilled jobs across Wales and Britain, including places such as South Wales and the Celtic Sea coastline.
The announcement on floating offshore wind marks the first major investment commitment that Great British Energy will make once a UK Labour government is elected, the party said.
It has committed to the publicly owned company, underpinned by a £8.3bn budget to invest in clean homegrown power generation.
Starmer and new Welsh First Minister Vaughan Gething will pledge that a future UK Labour government will work with the Welsh Labour Government to invest in homegrown clean energy and “turbocharge jobs and growth” for Wales, with infrastructure and jobs that are built to last.
The pair will be joined by Shadow Energy Ed Miliband and Shadow Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens.
The visit is the latest leg of Starmer’s missions tour, focused on the party’s mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower.
Wales has the potential to be a world leader in the development of new floating offshore wind technology, which a recent Government-backed taskforce saying the industry could unlock up to £43bn of GVA to the UK economy and create around 30,000 jobs by 2050.
However, not a single floating offshore wind project was successful at the government’s last failed renewables auction.
The Port of Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, saw its bid to act as a hub for developing offshore wind technology rejected by the government, Labour said.
Starmer said: “In an increasingly insecure world, with tyrants using energy as an economic weapon, Britain must take back control of our national energy security.
“After fourteen years of a Tory government kowtowing to fossil fuel dictators, Labour’s plan for energy independence would get Putin’s boot off our throat and power up communities across Britain.
“Great British Energy will be built to last, and the wind farms, carbon capture and all the good jobs that go with it will be built to last, too.
“It will be a legacy of the next Labour Government. Here in Wales, the potential for offshore wind is enormous, and the UK Tory government is squandering it.
“With public investment through Great British Energy we can unlock billions more in private investment to turbocharge jobs and growth for Wales.”