British govt shows faith in solar, wind power

The British government has given its biggest indication yet that it believes renewable energy is the solution to the country's energy issues, with plans for a major expansion of its solar and wind power production programs, just as householders face up to the prospect of huge increases in their energy bills.

An upcoming white paper about energy security put forward by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy contains plans to double offshore wind power generating capacity and to triple the number of solar panels in the country by 2030.

Currently, solar power produces around 14 gigawatts (GW) of power, a figure that will rise to 50GW, and off shore wind has a target of 30GW. The white paper also contains renewed targets for nuclear power generation, but ongoing discussions over the approval of several new nuclear facilities have delayed its publication.

A representative of RenewableUK, Britain's renewable energy trade association, which has long campaigned for the growth of wind power, told the Financial Times that the new target was "great news for hard-pressed energy bill payers, because onshore wind is the (United Kingdom)'s cheapest source of new power and we can build shovel-ready projects faster than any other source of energy".

Last month, energy secretary Kwasi Kwarteng tweeted: "Renewable energy was the UK's biggest source of electricity for the first time in 2020. Wind, solar, bioenergy and hydropower generated 42 percent of UK power last year-a huge transformation from just 7 percent a decade ago."

However, despite the many benefits they offer, the issue of how solar panels are located and deployed has proven to be a divisive one, with some Conservative members of Parliament, including former health secretary Matt Hancock, having backed local residents protesting against solar farms being built near their homes, because of the impact on the landscape.

Tom Fyans, director of campaigns and policy at countryside protection charity CPRE, said although increased investment in renewable energy was a good thing, it "made no sense for the countryside to become a patchwork quilt of solar panels".

Instead, he said more effort should be put into roof-mounted panels. "Hundreds of thousands of homes, shops and offices becoming a modernized network of rooftop renewable energy is a vision the whole country could get behind," he added.

One unlikely sounding solution to the issue that the government is giving serious consideration is a space-based solar power system, or SBSP, with solar panels attached to orbiting bodies.

"My department is developing a small-scale 'no-regrets' innovation program to support the development of key technologies associated with SBSP, and that also have broader terrestrial applications, and therefore, will contribute to the UK's net-zero ambition whether a space based solar power system is deployed or not," Kwarteng told the Parliamentary science and technology committee.

The government has reportedly already invited companies that are interested in getting involved to submit their proposals.