We’re a social bunch
Ed Miliband reminded the conference that the last time he was at Global Offshore Wind, he wasn’t actually the Secretary of State, and the UK general election was still a few weeks away.
Recalling that seems a little uncanny, because he’s been the face of clean energy in UK politics for such a long time. Proving perhaps that while you need to walk the talk, you also need to talk the walk. You could be forgiven for having the impression that the previous government was doing one thing – generally supportive of green energy – while talking on an entirely contrary point – trashing decarbonisation with its opportunistic positions on ULEZ, oil permits and internal combustion engines.
Labour’s Great British Energy, slow as it was to get going, had felt more like talk than walk. But at Global Offshore Wind, the secretary of state announced that GB Energy would contribute £300 million to stir further investment from industry and the Crown Estate of £700 million. These investments will go to building manufacturing capacity for turbines, blades, floating foundations and cabling and creating skilled jobs in the sector as part of the effort to build out offshore wind in Britain. Indeed, Ed Miliband wants the country to be a superpower in the sector.
Offshore wind has had it tough, Ed Miliband told delegates. And the response to that could be seen across the conference. Cost saving has long been the main message coming from the offshore wind industry’s supply chain, where companies, with their products, services and advice, have promised to help developers save money. Tying this message to the need to respond to the challenges the sector has faced; to help developers and their investors have better sight of project costs, and to catch up after setbacks was a common talking point on stand.
For the future that the Secretary of State sees, efficiency will be everything. As the second-largest market in offshore wind behind China, the UK blows other markets away. And with a target to nearly triple capacity by 2030, other markets may only feel its wake in the future. But the ultimate prize for the sector this government wants to build is not in its own waters – rather, it is to be won where offshore wind can be a leading source of decarbonised energy. Then, the efficiency expertise of Ed Miliband’s audience at Global Offshore Wind will be their superpower – capable of delivering low-cost, near-zero emission offshore wind projects and zero-carbon electricity to power the energy transition.
It was a pleasure for BLUE to attend Global Offshore Wind at the Excel London on 17th June and spend time with true superheroes of the energy transition.
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