Thursday 16 March 2023

Ørsted ‘disappointed’ with Spring Budget’s lack of support for renewables

The government's Spring Budget lacks a full package of support for the renewables industry, Ørsted has said.

The Danish energy giant, which is behind the construction of Hornsea 3, an offshore wind farm in the North Sea that will be capable of generating enough electricity to power two million homes, said: "It is disappointing that the government has not put in place a full package of support for the renewables industry in the Spring Budget.

"Under the government’s proposals, we understand long-life infrastructure projects such as offshore wind farms would only qualify for a 50% capital allowance for three years.

"Furthermore, the lion’s share of capital expenditure on Hornsea 3 and other forthcoming offshore wind projects will come outside the qualifying scope and timeframe."

Earlier today, Claire Mack, Chief Executive of Scottish Renewables, expressed disappointment with the Spring Budget’s treatment of the renewable energy industry, stating that it had been “short-changed”.

An Ørsted spokesperson told ELN: "We will now need to take some time to analyse the anticipated impact of these proposals on our future projects. We remain committed to doing all we can to reach the Final Investment Decision on Hornsea 3, a project Ørsted has been developing for more than a decade and which will deliver up to 2.8GW of clean, secure affordable power for UK homes and businesses.

"Our Hornsea 3 project team, together with our supply chain partners, will continue to seek creative solutions that we hope will allow us to green-light Hornsea 3 in the future, realising an £8 billion investment in the UK with thousands of jobs during construction and billions invested in the UK supply chain.”

ELN has contacted the Treasury and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero for comment.