-Boris Johnson has come down against onshore wind farms in the cabinet row which has delayed the publication of his energy security strategy.
His comments are likely to horrify environmentalists who believe that the development of onshore wind power is a vital part of the UK’s move towards net-zero carbon emissions by the 2050 target.
The prime minister had been reported to be leaning towards business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng’s push for a relaxation of planning rules to allow more onshore turbines, in the face of opposition from ministers including Jacob Rees-Mogg.
But giving evidence to a parliamentary committee today, he singled out offshore wind farms as a priority for the UK’s future energy supplies. And he underlined the fact that he was drawing a distinction with developments on land by repeating the word “offshore”.
Setting out his plans to step up home-grown energy production in his long-delayed strategy, Mr Johnson told the Commons Liaison Committee: “In the UK we have failed for a generation to put in enough long-term supply and it’s been one of those colossal mistakes.
“Renewables are fantastic and offshore wind – and I stress offshore wind – I think has massive potential. But so does nuclear.”
Mr Johnson said he wanted to accelerate the regeneration of nuclear power in the UK, telling MPs that new-style small nuclear reactors (SMRs) being developed by Rolls Royce could be on-stream by the end of the 2020s.
But he said that fossil fuels would remain part of the country’s energy mix, both as part of the transition to renewable sources and as an element in the production of hydrogen energy.
He insisted that the ambition to put the UK on the path to net-zero “has not been adulterated or lost at all”. But despite the UK’s decarbonisation promises at the COP26 summit last year, he said it would be “very useful” to continue oil and gas exploration in the North Sea.
