
Boris Johnson: Wind Farms Could Power Every Home by 2030
Offshore wind farms will generate enough electricity to power every home in the UK within a decade, Boris Johnson will pledge later.
Speaking at Conservative party conference, the PM will announce £160m to upgrade ports and factories for building turbines to help the country “build back greener”.
The plan aims to create 2,000 jobs in construction and support 60,000 more.
He will say the UK is to become “the world leader in clean wind energy”.
“Your kettle, your washing machine, your cooker, your heating, your plug-in electric vehicle – the whole lot of them will get their juice cleanly and without guilt from the breezes that blow around these islands,” he will say.
Mr Johnson’s speech comes after he made a pledge at a UN biodiversity summit in New York to protect 30% of UK land for nature as a “boost for biodiversity”.
The scheme will see the money invested into manufacturing in Teesside and Humber in northern England, as well as sites in Scotland and Wales.
Mr Johnson said the government was raising its target for offshore wind power capacity by 2030 from 30 gigawatts to 40 gigawatts.
The commitments are the first stage of a 10-point plan for a “green industrial revolution” from the government, with No 10 promising the rest of the details later this year to “accelerate our progress towards net zero emissions by 2050”.
The net zero target means greenhouse gas emissions would be dramatically slashed and any remaining emissions offset, neutralising environmental impacts and slowing climate change.
Mr Johnson’s speech comes amid a “fractious” mood on the Conservative backbenches about his handling of the Covid-19 crisis, BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg says.
She said the occasion could provide the prime minister with an opportunity to sell his vision of the country post-pandemic to party members.
But she added this year’s speech – to be delivered virtually without a live audience – would not allow him to plug into the energy of a crowd as he normally would.
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