Approximately 60,000 proposed jobs will no longer be created as a result of the government’s bid to clear the national deficit. Plans to build three factories which would produce large offshore wind turbines set out by the previous Labour administration have been set aside by the coalition.
The previous government had allocated £60 million for the upgrade of the ports, mainly in the north-east, in order for them to accommodate the next generation of giant wind turbine production. It is believed that staff at the DECC (Department of Energy and Climate Change) continue to fight for the funding required to go ahead with the project, albeit with minimum support from the Department of Business. Both the DECC and Department of Business were initially set to provide half of the £60 million each, but this is now looking highly unlikely.
Furthermore, the nuclear industry has successfully secured its future budget to decommission the country’s old reactors, a process undertaken by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA). In 2010, approximately 60% of the NDA’s budget derived from the DECC. This equates to some £1.7 billion, or roughly 40% of the DECC’s entire budget.
It has also emerged that both Siemens and General Electric have pledged to invest £180 million in two new manufacturing facilities in Britain, however, this promise is conditional on the necessary work on nearby ports.
As a means of raising the requisite funds, energy secretary Chris Huhne has founded a Green Investment Bank which will need to take public funds for existing renewable and low-carbon initiatives in order to raise enough capital.
The scrapping of these plans would not only prove to be a huge dent in the UK’s climate change objectives, but will also reflect badly on the Prime Minister, whose promise to lead the ‘greenest government ever’ looks to have been undermined. Although the matter has not yet been finalised (there will be a parliamentary debate held on the issue on Tuesday 12th October), it seems that the best anyone can hope for is the securing of funds sufficient to upgrade just one of the three ports.
With the apparent indifference of the government towards the development of a leading wind energy development programme, the burden may fall more heavily on the public. Already there has been a rise in the level of small wind turbines cropping up across the country, and this trend will only become more popular in times to come in line with the general move towards creating a greener, eco-friendly society.
The decision of the coalition to scrap such innovative programmes has been seen by many commentators as an indication that the government are not providing a stable platform from which to grow out of the recession. Recently, an £80 million loan to the Sheffield Forgemasters firm was axed by the government, and it seems a similar fate awaits the port modification projects in the north-east of England.