Wind Farms Championed by Starmer Face Axe After Miliband Snub
Two wind farms championed by Keir Starmer last year and backed by BP are at risk of being scrapped after finding themselves snubbed for Government contracts in Ed Miliband’s latest round of renewables subsidies. The Telegraph has the story.
The developer behind the proposed Mona and Morgan wind farms in the Irish Sea said the projects were no longer viable after missing out on taxpayer support during the latest auction.
That is despite Sir Keir Starmer having championed the sites last year, claiming they were proof of the UK’s commitment to green energy.
Energy company EnBW, which originally backed the schemes alongside BP, said: “The primary reason for EnBW’s withdrawal is that the two projects did not receive Government support.
“In combination with other factors beyond its control, this implies that the projects are no longer economically viable.
“These include increasingly deteriorating conditions such as cost increases across the supply chain, higher interest rates and ongoing project implementation risks.”
The comment risks dashing hopes for £100 million of planned investment in the projects and putting hundreds of jobs in Scotland and Belfast at risk.
BP’s failure to prop up the scheme reflects its continued retreat from green energy, instead choosing to focus on traditional sectors such as oil and gas.
After initially partnering with EnBW, BP has now moved its share into JERA Nex bp, a 50-50 partnership with Japan’s JERA.
This joint venture insisted there “are still good pathways” to deliver the projects despite EnBW saying otherwise.
Mr Miliband rejected the developers’ bid for subsidies during the latest auction of renewable energy contracts known as Allocation Round 7.
The Mona and Morgan projects would lie roughly halfway between Blackpool and the Isle of Man, with a total of nearly 200 giant 15-megawatt turbines, each standing about 1,200ft tall.
Planning for the schemes was well advanced.
Worth reading in full.
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None of these projects are economically viable and make no business sense. They would get no investors or be able to get credit from banks.
It is only by extortion of consumers and defrauding the taxpayer which guarantees a return on investment that these projects get investors.
Fraud and extortion are crimes. I do hope high on Reform UK’s list are criminal investigation of directors, managers, politicians and bureaucrats involved.
If Reform UK is true to its word and if elected will abolish the subsidies and contracts, these wind and solar projects will go belly-up, pronto.
Then electricity prices will quickly fall.
Apparently REFORM want to ditch NET ZERO, but let’s see. By the time we get to 2029 and an election, massive damage will already be done to our economy and Industrial Base and millions will be in fuel poverty.
Not sure why you show doubt about Reform’s policy on Net Zero. They (we) have been consistent for years in opposing it.
I vote REFORM, but I am not a dreamer. I have listened to politicians all my life and I judge them after they do what they say, not before. ——-I am glad you have consistently opposed it and 100% agree with that poisition. But when you have heard thousands of times politicians say they will do this that and the next thing and then don’t do it, you tend to be cautious. REFORM gets my vote as I agree with them on most stuff, so I hope to see them form the next government and eliminate this abusrdity called NET ZERO.——PS you might like to remove that red thumbs down now.
“no longer viable after missing out on taxpayer support”. ——-So the great planet saving turbine people turn out to be just SUBSIDY FARMERS. They only build them if they get free money. No one would ever build one without the massive subsidy because they are totally uneconomical. They get into this business because they know silly western governments want to chuck money at them.
“Hundreds of jobs in Scotland and Ireland at risk”—–But never mentioned is the massive job LOSSES in oil and gas in places like Aberdeen because of this silly government’s determination to align with the phonly planet saving agenda no matter how much it costs, and recently we saw reports of Net Zero costing in the Trillions. ——Who cares as long as they get to tick UN/WEF planet saving eco socialist boxes.
If those windmills are replaced by coal and gas generators there will be jobs in construction, operation and maintenance on these sites and in the supply chain. That would exceed jobs lost in the useless wind projects.
And jobs saved in the oil & gas industry if Net Zero abandoned.
Bonus: cheaper electricity.
YEP
Now here’s an idea. What if the government instead subsidised private ‘stewardship’ firms. People that could be hired more cheaply by local communities to pick litter, remove graffiti, fill potholes and fix broken windows.
Yes, I know local government is meant to do this, but some are better than others. There is often a gap between delivery and expectations. But a local community chipping in to fix all the local potholes rapidly could be attractive.
Or what if all those on “benefits” were made to do these things or get no benefits?
BP have just taken a massive hit on the write down of the values of unreliables. It is looking to exit from solar subsidy company Lightsource and so don’t be surprised if it looks to exit the JERA deal. The more BP’s value is depressed the more likely it will be subject to a takeover bid from the likes of Shell, Chevron, Exxon etc.
Woops, there go another bucnch of green jobs that we were promised.
But that’s a good thing, as we were going to be paying for them via subsidy anyway, so in reality we are up…
Even when he’s doing his “man of destiny” look he still looks like a chump in a high vis jacket.
What a loser.
He should be pictured kneeling or with a muzzle, always. All the politicians that supported “covid” and wore muzzles should be pictured ever more wearing them, lest we forget.
And why the helmet? It’s not like a spinning turbine blade is going to shoot off and brain him, there’s clearly no wind anyway.
and what’s the hard hat for exactly – oh, perhaps the skipper might hit on the head.
If they cannot operate without massive subsidies they are not economically viable.
Wind farms should be made to operate on exactly the same playing field as other forms of energy generation ….. no subsidies and milked for tax.
Sounds like a bit of a Matt Handcock to me.
i would like any connections he has to any of the people he’s awarded too to be published.
not that i want any net zero rubbish!
in fact the antecedents of any government contractor and how they got the contract should be fully in the public domain from the day the contract is awarded.