海角视频

The Prime Minister鈥檚 windfarm pledge could be a huge economic and environmental boost for Cornwall and the South West, business leaders say.

Boris Johnson wants the 海角视频 to generate enough electricity from offshore windfarms to power every home in the nation within a decade.

According to a report commissioned by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), 1GW of floating offshore windfarms in the Celtic Sea could support 3,200 jobs in the South West and Wales and 拢682million of spend in the local supply chain by 2030, powering hundreds of thousands of homes.

In his speech to the Conservative Party virtual annual conference, Mr Johnson pledged to power every home in Britain with offshore wind energy within a decade.

And he said: 鈥淲e will not only build fixed arrays in the sea, we will build windmills that float on the sea 鈥� enough to deliver 1GW of energy by 2030, 15 times as much as the rest of the world put together.鈥�

The pledge is being seen as a huge boost to floating offshore wind ambitions in Cornwall and the South West, which have been led by the LEP for the past two years.

Apart from Scotland, the Celtic Sea is the only other part of the 海角视频 where floating wind turbines can be deployed at scale. And November 2020 will see the formal submission of a Cornwall-led 拢30million-plus funding bid for Government investment to accelerate the creation of a floating offshore wind industry in the region as part of a 拢64millon project.

The South West Floating Offshore Wind Accelerator project is being led by Wave Hub, the Cornwall Council-owned marine renewables research and technology organisation, in collaboration with the LEP, University of Plymouth, University of Exeter, the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, A&P Group, Cornwall Council and Plymouth City Council.

It aims to build on Cornwall and Plymouth鈥檚 world-renowned excellence in offshore renewables business and research to fast-track the construction of large scale floating offshore windfarms in the Celtic Sea from the mid-2020s onwards.

LEP director Steve Jermy, who is also executive chair of Wave Hub, said: 鈥淲e鈥檙e delighted with the Prime Minister鈥檚 support because it recognises the huge contribution floating wind can make to the 海角视频鈥檚 renewables targets and the thousands of jobs that would result.

鈥淭he deployment of floating wind farms off Cornwall and in the Celtic Sea is something we have been working towards for the last two years.

鈥淲e鈥檝e been able to draw on the county鈥檚 unique expertise in offshore renewable energy and we are confident that Cornwall can play a leading role in delivering the Prime Minister鈥檚 ambitious vision.鈥�

Mr Jermy said plans to sell the Cornwall Council-owned Wave Hub offshore energy test site to a renewable energy project developer by the end of the year meant there could be a floating wind pilot project generating power off the coast of Cornwall as early 2023.

And he said there was the ambition in Cornwall to develop 3GW of floating offshore wind energy in the Celtic Sea by 2030.

Mark Duddridge, chair of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly LEP, also welcomed the Prime Minister鈥檚 announcement and said: 鈥淥ur region has huge expertise in offshore renewable energy and one of the best wind resources in Europe in the Celtic Sea.

鈥淲hat we need now is for some of the Prime Minister鈥檚 promised infrastructure investment to come to Cornwall and the South West to upgrade our ports and grid connectivity to we can play a national role in the 海角视频鈥檚 green industrial revolution.鈥�

Drystan Jones, Port Operations Director, Falmouth Docks and Engineering Company, part of the A&P Group added: 鈥淎&P Group welcomes the Prime Minister鈥檚 pledge to 鈥榖uild back greener鈥� with today鈥檚 announcement of investment in offshore wind energy.

鈥淲e are working closely with local partners to help make Falmouth and the wider South West economy a prime hub for the offshore wind sector, with A&P playing its part to ensure the region has the skills, facilities and capabilities to deliver the construction of floating offshore wind.

鈥淲e look forward to future commitments from Government for the South West to help achieve our shared ambitious targets for offshore wind capacity.鈥�

Cornwall is no stranger to renewable energy. It is home to the 海角视频鈥檚 first commercial windfarm and has the best solar climate in the 海角视频.

And as well as floating offshore wind Cornwall is pioneering deep geothermal energy to tap the heat in granite deposits five kilometres beneath the earth, and is looking at how lithium can be extracted from deep geothermal brines for use in battery technology to help drive the electric car revolution.

Only last month the LEP announced it was supporting a 拢4million project to build Europe鈥檚 first geothermal lithium recovery pilot plant using investment it has secured from the Government鈥檚 Getting Building Fund. The project is a collaboration between Cornish Lithium and Geothermal Engineering Ltd.

Adam Marshall, director general of BCC (British Chambers of Commerce) said: 鈥淭he Prime Minister鈥檚 ambitious commitment to clean, renewable energy will be appreciated by our business communities.

鈥淐hambers in our coastal regions have been clear that offshore windfarms must integrate local firms into supply chains to support investment and jobs. This will be even more critical as local business communities try to restart and rebuild following the pandemic.

鈥淒ecarbonising electricity generation is crucial to the 海角视频鈥檚 future, but it won鈥檛 happen without a route map that gives investors confidence. The Energy White Paper needs to be published.鈥�

Gail Cartmail , assistant general secretary of the union Unite, said: 鈥淲e welcome the prime minister鈥檚 conversion to offshore windfarms, but what it reveals is the poverty of ambition compared with France and Germany.

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Business Live's South West Business Reporter is William Telford. William has more than a decade's experience reporting on the business scene in Plymouth and the South West. He is based in Plymouth but covers the entire region.

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鈥淭he spending proposed by Boris Johnson pales into significance with the vast sums that our main European competitors have invested in this sector.

鈥淭he commitment for 60% of the turbines to be manufactured in the 海角视频 only highlights that much more could have been done to invest in this sector and the jobs boost that would have been created.

鈥淭he Johnson rhetoric will turn out to be a mirage without a strong economy, retention of skilled jobs and investment in apprenticeships 鈥� and this means that chancellor Rishi Sunak needs to continue to do much more to protect employment as we go through the coronavirus pandemic.鈥�

Unite national officer for energy Peter McIntosh said. 鈥淲hat we are waiting for is the Government鈥檚 much-delayed energy White Paper which will show how the 海角视频 reaches its pledge of net-zero carbon emissions across all forms of energy by 2050. This will include low carbon nuclear and renewables, such as wind power.

鈥淲hat the prime minister spoke about today is only a partial picture of what needs to be done to keep the lights on for industry, business and the consumer.鈥�