UK has best incentives for offshore wind farms

UK has best incentives for offshore wind farms

By Rob Bell
Last Updated: 3:01pm GMT 07/11/2007

The UK has the best financial incentives for offshore wind farms of any EU country and is "clearly seen by investors as the most attractive place for investment in this growing industry", according to a KPMG study.

The research, carried out for the German Wind Energy Association, was published in the wake of leaked Government papers which suggested that the Government plans to work with Poland and France to undermine European targets of 20 per cent of energy from renewable sources by 2020 and "effectively abolish" UK targets.

The European Commission has postponed its proposals until the New Year due to "member governments' lack of commitment" amidst the rumours of UK plans to scupper any attempt to enforce mandatory targets.

Existing UK incentives for green power generation under the Renewables Obligation have been heavily criticised, with Greenpeace executive director John Sauven describing the RO as "an uncertain and short-term system, which has been found by European Commission research to be one of the least efficient and most expensive renewable energy support mechanisms in Europe".

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