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Economic Development

Labour promises thousands of extra jobs in offshore wind

Party wants to build 37 offshore wind farms under its "people's power" plan

Offshore wind turbines(Image: Daily Post Wales)

Thirty-seven new offshore wind farms will be built if Labour enters Government, the party has pledged.

Shadow business secretary Rebecca Long Bailey said there would be a 51% public stake in the farms, with profits invested into coastal communities.

The cost of offshore wind tumbled below £40 per megawatt hour of electricity last week, but Labour said deployment was too slow and that jobs and revenue were being taken outside the º£½ÇÊÓÆµ.

Instead, under Labour's plans, a people's power fund would be created with 20% of the profits from the publicly owned stake, which would invest between £600 to £1,020m each year into infrastructure in "held-back" coastal communities.

The rest of the public profits would be reinvested into new renewables, improvements to the energy system and climate transition.

A people's power plan would deliver 52 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030 - equivalent to 38 coal power stations - and the new wind farms would provide electricity for 57 million households, Labour said.

The party said the proposals would create at least 67,000 new jobs in the offshore wind sector - particularly in Scotland, Yorkshire & Humber, East Anglia and North-East England.

Ms Long Bailey said: "Britain has long benefited from its windy shores, with the wind playing an essential role in our history as a seafaring nation.