Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Oct 20, 2025

UK PM Boris Johnson says offshore wind will power every home in the country by 2030

UK PM Boris Johnson says offshore wind will power every home in the country by 2030

The U.K. is already home to a number of large offshore wind farms. Boris Johnson acknowledges the role floating offshore wind could play going forward.
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday that he wanted the country to become the “world leader in low cost clean power generation.”

Speaking at the Conservative Party annual conference, which was delivered virtually, Johnson stressed the importance of renewable energy sources, especially offshore wind.

“We believe that in ten years’ time, offshore wind will be powering every home in the country, with our target rising from 30 gigawatts to 40 gigawatts,” he said.

“You heard me right: 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 added.

The pledge to increase offshore wind capacity was included in the Conservative Party’s manifesto for the 2019 general election.

Johnson said he remembered how some people used to sneer at wind power 20 years ago, in an apparent reference to himself, given he had once claimed wind farms couldn’t “pull the skin off a rice pudding.” His comments criticizing the effectiveness of wind power were made in 2013, however.

The prime minister said £160 million ($207.46 million) would be invested in ports and factories to manufacture what he described as the “next generation of turbines” — a move he later claimed would generate 60,000 jobs — and also acknowledged the role floating offshore wind could play.

“As Saudi Arabia is to oil, the U.K. is to wind — a place of almost limitless resource but, in the case of wind, without the carbon emissions, without the damage to the environment,” he said.

According to figures from industry body RenewableUK, the U.K.’s operational offshore wind capacity stands at a little over 10.4 gigawatts. The U.K. is already home to a number of large offshore wind farms. These include Hornsea One, in waters off Yorkshire, England, which has a capacity of 1.2 gigawatts.

In response to Johnson’s remarks, Hugh McNeal, RenewableUK’s chief executive, said the government had “raised the ambition for offshore wind and renewables, and our industry is ready to meet the challenge.”

“A green recovery with renewables at its heart will be good for consumers and jobs, as well as helping to meet our 2050 net zero emissions target,” he added.

Wind power plan ‘still falls far short’

The pledge to ramp up offshore wind capacity was met with measured optimism from environmental organizations. Mike Childs, who is head of policy at Friends of the Earth, said Johnson’s “U-turn” on wind showed “the renewables argument has clearly been won.”

“Investment in off-shore wind is certainly critical for powering a cleaner, fairer future, but Boris Johnson mustn’t ignore the huge contribution onshore wind could make too,” he added, before going on to call for planning restrictions on onshore wind to be “urgently” reversed.

“We also need a comprehensive nationwide energy efficiency programme to create jobs, cut fuel bills, prevent people shivering in heat-leaking homes and help face down the climate emergency,” he said.

In a tweet reacting to the news Jonathan Bartley, who is co-leader of the Green Party, said it was “good to see the Prime Minister’s conversion” but noted that more detail was needed on how things would be funded. “It still falls far short of what is urgently needed and what could be achieved,” he added.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
×