As day-trippers to the British seaside enjoy fish and chips and a bracing paddle, they may notice, as they gaze out to sea, one of the great hidden legacies of this Conservative government: offshore wind power. Turning steadily in the breeze, the vast array of offshore and onshore turbines around Great Britain provide about a quarter of our electricity needs, with almost no carbon emissions and at a cost below imported gas or nuclear generation. They are a national success story. We have the second biggest offshore turbine fleet in the world, behind only China.
The Tory government effectively banned onshore wind turbines in 2015. But at the same time, the growth in offshore wind can be traced back to a 2014 decision to establish a new support mechanism for low-carbon generation. Called “contracts for difference”, it guarantees a set price for units of electricity. If the market price falls below the set price, the generator receives a top-up payment. If the market price rises above the set price, the generator pays back the difference.
