The UK Government today announced plans to allocate £1 bn (US $1.6) of loans to wind energy companies through part – state owned banks.
After announcing that offshore wind energy would recieve double the financial incentives in the budget earlier this year, the Government has stepped in again to help smooth the path for struggling wind energy projects.
The Energy and Climate Change Secretary believes one gigawatt of onshore wind energy schemes has been delayed by poor financing conditions. Miliband told the Guardian newspaper “Earlier this month we laid out a transition plan to a low-carbon economy that included massive expansion of green wind energy…The resources we are announcing back up our plans with clear actions to ensure that we deliver. The money for the development of offshore wind manufacturing will help us generate green jobs on top of our success as the leading country in the world for the generation of offshore wind”
Alongside these proposals we are reforming planning laws, finding new ways of working with local communities and are determined to persuade people that we need a significant increase in onshore wind as part of the UK’s future energy mix.”
The Department of Energy and Climate Change also opened the doors to its offshore technology grant fund today. Vestas UK R&D team is eyeing up £3m (US $5m) of this grant fund despite plans to close its factory and laying off 600 workers. 100 jobs at Vestas R& D would be saved by total grant funding of £6m (US $10m), half of which is to come from the South East England Development Agency.
