Enable new floating wind farms

Our verdict

• This is a somewhat vague commitment to “enable” new floating wind farms, which we are taking to mean providing government support for their development.
• In a speech to his virtual party conference in October 2020, the Prime Minister announced a £160 million investment in offshore wind, and pledged to generate 1GW from floating wind farms by 2030 (total renewable electricity capacity in the UK was 48.5GW when the pledge was made). Floating wind projects have also been made eligible for the first time to bid for contracts under the government’s main renewables support scheme, Contracts for Difference, and the March 2021 Budget launched a £20 million programme to support the development of floating wind.
• The funding promises to date are relatively small investments for developing and building technology of this complexity and scale (and in May 2021, the trade association RenewableUK recommended doubling the 1GW target), but coupled with the new eligibility for Contracts for Difference, they represent initial steps towards enabling new floating wind farms, so this policy is ‘in progress’.