From BBC
In a significant blow to the government’s clean energy ambitions the Danish energy company Orsted has cancelled plans for a huge windfarm off the coast of East Yorkshire.
The Hornsea 4 project would have become one of the biggest offshore wind farms in the world with a potential capacity of 2.4GW – enough to power more than a million homes.
Orsted said the project no longer made economic sense, despite signing a 15-year contract with the UK government guaranteeing to sell power at an agreed price.
The UK’s offshore wind sector has faced soaring costs in recent years, as the government has acknowledged.
A spokesperson for the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) said it recognised “the effect that globally high inflation and supply chain constraints are having on industry across Europe.”
But this is the second developer to pull out of a major offshore project.
The Swedish company Vattenfall halted development of a 1.4GW wind farm off the coast of Norfolk in July 2023, again due to rising costs.
Thay project was sold to the German energy company RWE, which has said it plans to see the project through.
However, the difficulties offshore developers are facing raise significant questions about the viability of the government’s clean power by 2030 target – one of the Labour government’s five central “missions”.
Just over half of the country’s power currently comes from wind, solar, nuclear and biomass – organic matter. The government wants to raise that to 95% by 2030 – so in just five years’ time.
In order to meet that target the UK will need to triple offshore wind capacity and double the amount of solar and onshore wind power on the system, according to estimates by Aurora Energy.
It will also need a significant upgrade to the electricity grid with 620 miles of new power lines
