UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has appointed conservative MP for Reading West Alok Sharma as the new Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
Sharma takes over the role from Andrea Leadsom, who was axed by Johnson during a cabinet reshuffle today.
The new incumbent will be responsible for ensuring the UK remains on track to hit a new ’40GW by 2030′ goal for offshore wind set by Johnson during last year’s general election campaign.
BEIS is due to publish an energy White Paper outlining its future plans by end of March.
In a statement on Twitter this morning, Leadsom, the Conservative MP for South Northamptonshire, said it had been “a real privilege” to serve as BEIS secretary for the past six months.
“I am particularly proud of my work in BEIS on net zero…and on making the UK the best place in the world to work and grow a business.”
Leadsom took over from Greg Clark last July, one month after the UK committed to reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Leadsom’s tenure saw BEIS dish out supports for 5.5GW of new offshore wind during the third Contract’s for Difference Round last year, at which projects secured record low prices of £39.61/MWh.