Industry lukewarm on PM's green power plansBy Russell Hotten

Last Updated: 12:30am BST 27/06/2008
British industry has given a cautious response to the Prime Minister's alternative energy strategy, which he claimed will create thousands of new business opportunities and 160,000 jobs. Gordon Brown said it would cost companies about £100m over the next 12 years, as Britain moved to clean up the environment and generate more power from renewable energy sources such as wind and power. But the price would be worth it, he said. Measures announced yesterday are designed to help Britain meet European Union targets that the country should produce 15pc of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, compared with less than 4pc now. Mr Brown wants to encourage utility companies to build 7,000 wind turbines, turning the "North Sea and other coastal waters into the equivalent for wind power of what the Gulf of Arabia is for the oil industry," he said. He predicted "a reduction in energy bills for consumers" and "the creation of hundreds, indeed thousands, of new business opportunities.
More on utilities
"By 2020 we will have installed around 14 gigawatts - that is around 3,000 offshore wind turbines, meeting up to 50pc of our renewable electricity... The North Sea has now passed its peak of oil and gas supply - but it will now embark on a new transformation into the global centre of the offshore wind industry."
advertisement
But the employers' organisation, the CBI, was less optimistic. John Cridland, the CBI's deputy director-general, said: "Some of the proposals do make good sense, such as the focus on energy efficiency, but we are concerned over whether the very high level of renewables the document envisages is feasible and cost effective.
"As today's document explains, the target is likely to cost the UK an additional £6bn a year, much of which will fall on businesses and households."
Martin Temple, chairman of the EEF manufacturers' organisation, criticised the lack of extra government money to soften the cost of a move to a low carbon economy.
"Given the extent to which other countries are ahead of the curve in developing low carbon forms of energy, it is disappointing that the Government has failed to back firm words with any significant extra funding, especially for emerging technologies," he said. "Business will be concerned by the increasing costs associated with the dash for renewables."