The cabinet said that it “would evaluate the options for the future development of the Hornsea 4 project given the rights of the seabed, the grid connection agreement and the order of consent of development”, but confirmed that it could no longer deliver the project as planned.
The increase in offshore wind capacity should form the backbone of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s ambitious plan to feed the United Kingdom almost entirely with small carbon sources by 2030. The potential loss of 2.4 GW of potential capacity is a significant reverse.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Energy Security and Net Zero said that the government “would work with Ørsted to recover Hornsea 4 on the right track” and insisted that there was still “a solid project pipeline to provide clean power by 2030”.
The next series of grant allowances within the framework of the Contracts for Different program – known as seven (AR7) (AR7) – is later due this year and is considered a last chance to guarantee sufficient offshore wind capacity to achieve the government’s objective in 2030.
A figure in the energy industry, granted anonymity to talk about the government’s decision -making, said that the loss of Hornsea 4 “is increasing the challenges for AR7”.
The objective of 2030 was always achievable, they declared: “But it is obviously an important capacity which should now be sought elsewhere if the project cannot go up.”
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