Floating Offshore Wind: Celtic Sea

Katie Lam Excerpts

Thursday 12th December 2024 Westminster Hall

[Katie Lam (Weald of Kent) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford. I thank the hon. Member for Truro and Falmouth (Jayne Kirkham). This is an important subject, successfully championed by the last Conservative Government, and I am glad of the chance to discuss it today. The hon. Lady’s passion and ambition for her seat, and for all of Cornwall, are clear and do her great credit. These are complex issues involving major projects, long supply chains, and many public and private sector groups, which she has clearly taken a lot of time to understand. I am sure the Minister will be grateful for her suggestions. Her points, especially on the need for co-ordination between public and private investment, and bringing in planning and skills, are well made.

The hon. Member for Mid and South Pembrokeshire (Henry Tufnell) outlined the size of the opportunity. Floating offshore wind is a substantial potential prize, not just for the climate but for Britain’s reindustrialisation. I am sure his all-party parliamentary group for the Celtic sea much appreciates his contribution—as is the case, I am sure, for the hon. Member for Truro and Falmouth. I look forward to seeing those anchors from Pembrokeshire and they are lucky to have him to champion them.

The hon. Member for Camborne and Redruth (Perran Moon) is another committed advocate for the great county of Cornwall and the fantastic economic potential of south-west England and, of course, south Wales. He is right that workforce development must be strategic, coherent and long term, and I was fascinated to hear of the outstanding university and college courses available, including in his own constituency—a “Cornish Celtic tiger” indeed.

The hon. Member for St Austell and Newquay (Noah Law) also discussed skills, and I hope his upcoming meeting with the Skills Minister is as fruitful as he hopes it will be. His constituents, I am sure, will be very pleased to hear of all he is doing to stand up for the infrastructure his area needs, as well as for the exciting supply chain and marine technology leadership that he describes.

I was a little surprised to hear the view of the hon. Member for North Cornwall (Ben Maguire) that the area was neglected by the last Government. Successive Conservative Governments took renewable electricity generation from just 7% in 2010 to over half by the second quarter of this year. We made the UK the global leader in offshore wind, with more capacity installed than any other country, powering more than 7.5 million homes.

The last Conservative Government committed a £1 billion investment to green industries through the green industries growth accelerator, aimed at advancing technologies such as offshore wind. The investment aimed to leverage up to £90 billion over a decade. Will the Minister please update us on how much of that has been spent since the Labour Government took office, and how much is being directed to floating offshore wind?

This debate is, of course, about the Celtic sea, but I am conscious that in the North sea, the Chinese company Ming Yang Wind Power Group is poised to construct hundreds of floating wind turbines, if that is approved by the SNP. Ming Yang benefits from massive state subsidies in China. Will the Minister please assure us that, be it in the North sea, the Celtic sea or anywhere else, he will not allow any wind turbines to be built and controlled by hostile states, undermining both market fairness and our national security, in any of Britain’s waters?

The previous Government set up the floating offshore wind manufacturing investment scheme, investing £160 million in two ports. One of these was Port Talbot, which is well placed to serve Celtic sea floating offshore wind. The investment was welcomed for supporting job creation in south Wales and the wider UK supply chain. The Crown Estate later set out its plans for a new generation of floating wind farms in the Celtic sea, with the potential to power a further 4 million homes. Will the Minister please assure us that this exciting project, and the investment secured under the last Government, will not get lost in the cost and bureaucracy of setting up GB Energy? Will he outline the impact on energy bills of the higher strike price put into auction round 5 by this Government and recommit to the Government’s manifesto promise to lower energy bills by £300? This Government inherited global leadership in offshore wind, which is something I am sure we can all be proud of. The Celtic sea presents a fantastic opportunity to build on that record.