Britain’s Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said the outcome of the UK’s latest offshore wind auction would lay the foundations for a “new era of energy sovereignty” by reducing the country’s dependence on fossil fuel imports.
Writing in the Guardian on Jan. 14, Miliband said the results of Allocation Round 7 (AR7) would help the UK “get off the rollercoaster” of global energy markets, where “Britain is a price-taker, not a price-maker”.
The auction awarded contracts for 8.4 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity, which Miliband said was secured at strike prices of up to £90.91 per megawatt hour, around 40% cheaper than the cost of building and operating new gas-fired power generation.
Miliband also criticised opponents of the government’s Clean Power 2030 mission, saying a “well-funded right-wing network” had mounted a “relentless war” against the argument that expanding domestic renewable energy would cut electricity bills.
“When (Prime Minister) Keir Starmer set out our mission for clean power by 2030, it said it couldn’t be done, or that even if it could, it was the wrong choice,” Miliband wrote. “Today’s historic auction has proved the doubters wrong.”
He said the auction outcome would allow future generations to grow up in a country that “controls its own energy destiny” and can meet rising demand from new housing, industrial growth and electrification.
“This record result represents a major step forward for our industrial strategy, as we seize the opportunities of clean energy to meet the demand of the British people for the good jobs of the future,” Miliband said.
“These projects will create thousands of jobs for engineers, technicians and factory workers and unlock £22 billion of investment in Britain, as we advance towards the 100,000 offshore wind jobs our mission will support by the end of the decade,” he added.
