IPPR warns offshore wind opportunities could be squandered

Think-tank IPPR has joined an industry chorus warning that the UK could stand to lose out on up to thousands of jobs and billions of pounds of investment in offshore wind unless the right combination of “carrots and sticks” are brought to bear on the nascent sector.

The group said long-term targets for carbon reduction were a “necessary condition” for the continued development of technology and supply chain, while the firms behind the construction of arrays should be guaranteed long-term contracts to ensure costs are driven down over time.

But IPPR associate director Will Straw has warned the UK approach could lead to a “worst of all worlds” result, and called for the electricity market reform process to set the right conditions for investment by developers, manufacturers and suppliers.

He said: “The UK’s policy trajectory could see it achieving a ‘worst of all worlds’ outcome: low volume, low jobs, and high costs. This would fail our climate challenge, our jobs challenge, and our rebalancing challenge.”