Doubts have emerged over whether the government’s 2030 clean energy target can be met in time, after UK boss RWE admitted several newly awarded offshore wind projects are unlikely to be operational by the end of the decade.
A German energy group won the government’s latest offshore wind subsidy auction, securing five of the six contracts awarded. Ministers hailed the result as a major step towards delivering Ed Miliband’s ambition of an almost complete energy system by 2030.
However, speaking after the auction, Tom Glover, RWE’s UK chief executive, said it was unrealistic to expect all five projects, with a total capacity of 6.9 gigawatts, to produce power by that deadline.
Asked specifically if the projects would be online by 2030, Glover said: “Probably not.”
Three of RWE’s five projects are contracted to start operating in the 2030–31 financial year, making their delivery before the end of 2030 “difficult”, he said. The two largest schemes, located on the Dogger Bank off England’s east coast, are still awaiting planning permission, with a decision recently delayed until the end of April.
Grid access is another limitation. The Dogger Bank projects are currently not scheduled to receive grid connection until October 2030, after which a period of operation will be required before electricity can be brought into the system.
Glover stressed that the exact time frame should not dictate the scale of the investment involved. “This is over £20 billion of investment in UK infrastructure,” he said. We shouldn’t be overly negative about whether the delivery is a few months late.”
His comments contradict the government’s more confident assessment. Chris Stark, the clean energy program’s head of equipment management, said the auction secured nearly 8.5 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity expected to be operational by 2030, which he described as “critical” to meeting the target.
The government aims for at least 95 percent of electricity generation to come from clean sources by 2030, rising from about 74 percent by 2024. Onshore wind is at the center of that plan, with a target of at least 43 gigawatts of installed capacity by the end of the decade. Officials believe the latest auction will increase operating capacity to about 36 gigawatts by 2030, with further rounds to follow.
However the auction results also highlighted the wider structural challenges facing the sector, including planning delays, grid connection constraints and the lead times required for major offshore developments.
The only non-RWE project awarded a contract was the first phase of SSE’s Berwick Bank wind farm in the outer Firth of Forth, which is also not scheduled to start production until 2030-31, adding to concerns about delivery times.
RWE, already one of the UK’s largest electricity generators, expects capital spending on its five projects to exceed £20 billion, shared with partners including KKR, which takes a 50 percent stake in the Norfolk projects, and Masdar, which owns 49 percent of the Dogger Bank projects. Other partners include Stadtwerke München and Siemens.
Glover said RWE was aiming for 50 per cent UK content throughout the life of the projects, emphasizing its importance not only in decarbonisation but also in investment in industry and supply.
While the ministers remain upbeat, RWE’s comments underscore the growing tension between political goals and the practical realities of delivering complex energy infrastructure quickly.
