Floating Offshore Wind: Celtic Sea

Noah Law Excerpts

Thursday 12th December 2024 Westminster Hall

[Noah Law (St Austell and Newquay) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford, and to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Camborne and Redruth (Perran Moon), who spoke so lucidly about the challenges we face in building a home-grown supply chain and heeding the lessons of history. I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in this important debate and congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Truro and Falmouth (Jayne Kirkham) on securing it.

Floating offshore wind represents a truly transformative opportunity for Cornwall and the broader UK—an opportunity to bring jobs to our region while turbocharging the UK’s energy transition. Cornwall’s deep maritime heritage and strategic location uniquely positions us to be at the forefront of the floating offshore wind industry. The Celtic sea’s vast potential for renewable energy production can meet the challenges of deeper water, as my hon. Friend the Member for Mid and South Pembrokeshire (Henry Tufnell) rightly suggested, and those challenges cannot easily be met by our traditional fixed offshore wind industry.

With 4.5 GW of flow capacity envisaged for the region, we can power millions of homes with clean energy while creating around 5,300 jobs and delivering £1.5 billion of gross value added to the local economy, with around a third of that expected to arise in Cornwall, which can play its role in championing the southern side of the Celtic sea.

In Cornwall the opportunity is not abstract: it is very much tangible. With the natural advantages of Falmouth harbour, which we have heard so much about, with its deep-water access and existing maritime infrastructure, Falmouth is truly a flagship location for our floating offshore wind Celtic sea cluster. Its impact will extend far beyond the Truro and Falmouth constituency because, for constituencies like mine—St Austell and Newquay—the ripple effects of job creation, skills development and supply chain growth can be significant.

From the industrial engineering of components to logistical support, floating offshore wind can energise industries that in many cases already exist across the spine of Cornwall. To make the vision a reality we need political leadership and co-ordination. Central Government must work hand in hand, ideally with a devolved Government in Cornwall, with floating offshore wind at the heart of their industrial strategy. They must work with the Crown Estate and developers and educational institutions to address the barriers that hold back the industry. Only through a unified strategic focus can floating offshore wind reach its potential.

Floating offshore wind requires a new generation of skilled workers in maritime engineering, fabrication and supply chain logistics. That is why I will soon meet the Skills Minister to urge Skills England to adopt a long-term perspective on the industry and its development locally. Institutions like Falmouth marine school, as we have heard, and certainly Cornwall college, which is also based in my constituency, are already laying the groundwork, but they need substantial and sustained investment to scale up the training programmes. We must ensure that young people in Cornwall have access to the skills and qualifications necessary to thrive in the sector and share in the great prosperity it can bring to our part of the world.

The scale of investment required is truly substantial. As we have heard, ports like Falmouth need to upgrade to become hubs for assembly operations and maintenance. I am working closely with the national wealth fund to ensure that Cornwall features prominently in its pipeline of prospective investments. We also need the tailored mechanisms we have heard about, such as contracts for difference that account for the higher costs and early-stage challenges of projects in this part of Britain. Without those, developers may turn elsewhere, and Cornwall in particular risks missing out on this once-in-a-generation opportunity.

For Cornwall to realise the full benefits of floating offshore wind, our public infrastructure must be developed alongside it and be up to the task. Improved road, rail and grid connections are essential. We need a freight line down to the Falmouth docks, we need the spine of Cornwall’s infrastructure network to be strong, and we need to ensure that Tamar crossings do not financially disadvantage local residents or businesses or the logistics supply chain associated with the industry. We must ensure the seamless movement of goods and people.

The Crown Estate has a pivotal role in championing the floating offshore wind industry and showcasing Cornwall’s strengths and potential. I welcome its recent decision to award match funding to Blue Abyss, which is in my constituency and is a world-class facility poised to become the centre of innovation for offshore wind energy and maritime technology. It is a really strong signal from the Crown Estate, but there is much more to be done. We need to continue to prioritise local supply chain development and work actively with local stakeholders to ensure that Cornwall’s potential is fully recognised and utilised.

The development of floating offshore wind in the Celtic sea is more than just an energy initiative. It is an economic and social catalyst with the power to revitalise our communities, tackle regional inequalities and cement Britain’s position as a global leader in renewable energy. For Cornwall, it is an opportunity for us to build our maritime heritage and to shape a sustainable future. To achieve this, we need a clear strategy that brings together Government, industry and educational institutions. We need a spatial strategy that works hand in glove with the fishing industry to make sure this is a success for every part of our community, and we need the investment in skills, infrastructure and local supply chains to get this off the ground and to ensure that local people feel the prosperity.

We need to act urgently to secure contracts, funding, investment and confidence to unlock the full potential of FLOW and Cornwall’s role in it. I urge the Government to seize this moment and commit to the co-ordinated action we need to deliver on the promise of floating offshore wind. Together, we can harness the power of the Celtic sea to light our homes, power our industries and create a legacy of sustainable prosperity for Cornwall and beyond.

Oral Answers to Questions

Noah Law Excerpts

Tuesday 12th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call Noah Law. Are you standing?

[Noah Law (St Austell and Newquay) (Lab)]

indicated dissent.

[Mr Speaker]

Okay, I call Toby Perkins. Here’s a man who is ready to go!

--- Later in debate ---

[Michael Shanks]

I do not believe that at all. This Government are committed to a just and prosperous transition. The reality is that 100,000 jobs have been lost in the oil and gas industry in the past 10 years. If we do not recognise that there is a transition under way and put in place the measures to produce the jobs of the future, we will have more losses. The party that the hon. Member represents could have done something about that by supporting Great British Energy headquarters in Aberdeen but he failed to show up and vote for it.

[Noah Law (St Austell and Newquay) (Lab)]

I declare an interest as a chair of the all-party parliamentary group for critical minerals. Domestic supplies of copper and, of course, Cornish tin are critical to the UK’s energy security. What consideration has the Minister given to ensuring that copper and tin are recognised as critical minerals?

[Sarah Jones]

The process in terms of what is on the list of critical minerals is independent, but I have a strong interest, as does my hon. Friend, in ensuring that we produce as many critical minerals here as we can and that the supply chains around the world are working for us. I am looking at a critical minerals strategy, which will come forward in due course.

Renewable Energy: Cornwall

Noah Law Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd October 2024 Westminster Hall

[Jayne Kirkham]

I agree that the opportunities are vast. We have all heard incredible enthusiasm from the Secretary of State for DESNZ in particular about grasping those opportunities for Cornwall with both hands. I am pleased that that will hopefully happen.

We already know and recognise the potential for wind and solar in Cornwall. The Duchy benefits from regular south-westerly winds, which would complement those in other parts of the country. Solar has its place as well. Much of it in my constituency at present is comprised of large solar farms that cluster around the spot where the power supply is broken down into smaller distribution networks. That is only halfway down Cornwall at Indian Queens. The community benefits of those schemes are mixed, and developers have tended to focus on agricultural land that has previously been used for crops—grade 3b land, which is used for potatoes, cauliflowers and daffodils among other things.

We have geothermal solutions as well, both grid-connected with contracts for difference in place and planning permissions, such as for Geothermal Engineering Ltd, and offgrid, such as Kensa heat pumps, which I mentioned earlier. At present, there are two deep geothermal wells with the potential for three more on council farms. Geothermal is a base source producing energy day and night, and whichever way the wind blows, and the 190° water that comes out of the wells has a great scope to heat homes.

It is worth noting that there is significant Cornish capability for developing tidal streams in the UK, Europe and beyond, such as Inyanga Marine Energy Group in my constituency. There is rising demand for clean energy from critical industries such as the tech metals industry and from new communities in my constituency, such as the build of Langarth garden village.

Cornwall is blessed to have resources of tin, lithium and geothermal heat that are simply not available anywhere else. Tin is used in the manufacture of virtually every single electrical device that we use, and it is crucial to our transition to a fossil-free economy. Demand for tin over the past decade or so has driven prices even higher —so much so that is now commercially viable to reopen some of our historical mines. Investment is already coming into Cornwall, most demonstrably at South Crofty mine, where pumping out water from the flooded mine chamber is already well underway, and that of course uses an awful lot of energy.

Lithium, which is a vital component of electric vehicle batteries, is another critical mineral that we have in abundance in Cornwall. We currently import 100% of our lithium, and yet Cornwall has the largest lithium deposits in Europe. We have enough to extract 50,000 tonnes per year. Those critical minerals are currently imported from east Asia and Latin America, where they are mined in a hugely damaging way. The process in Cornwall is completely different. There is a great story to tell here: we have a way to feed the new battery factory in Somerset and to give a shot in the arm to our automotive industry without being reliant on foreign imports in a more dangerous geopolitical environment.

Floating offshore wind in the Celtic sea is the next frontier in the UK’s clean energy transition. We are positioned to unlock up to 4 GW of power by 2035, which is enough to power 4 million homes. There are huge opportunities here for Cornwall, as the Celtic sea is all around us. The ambition to put floating offshore wind in the Celtic sea, where it would complement other offshore arrays, and the opportunities that would arise from it for Cornwall to expand supply chains, the economy and the number of good, skilled jobs are vast.

However, to be brutal, ambition is so far all that it is. Test and demonstration models are planned and ready to go—smaller, non-commercial pilot projects that prove the technology works to give confidence to investors— but the most ready is stalled by too low a price from previous contracts for difference rounds, while others are stalled by planning issues.

[Noah Law (St Austell and Newquay) (Lab)]

We know the Cornish economy to be more dependent on small and medium-sized enterprises than elsewhere in the UK; the same is true of the supply chain for our great, burgeoning renewable energy industry. Does my hon. Friend agree that the organs of industrial strategy must be attuned to the need for building a supply chain based on those SMEs and the very specific needs of those growth businesses?

[Jayne Kirkham]

Absolutely—scaling up and providing the skills that are required need to be done extremely quickly. It is a race against time to remove the barriers and kick-start those projects; then, the Crown Estate, the Government and GB Energy must work together to provide a feasible timeline of contracts for difference and leasing rounds, as well as doing the groundwork by investing in the surveys and the infrastructure, such as cabling and the grid, so that investors will come on board.

Our Cornish ports and harbours, such as Falmouth, are well placed to support floating offshore wind, with well-established marine engineering solutions, servicing, assembly and maintenance. They also have a huge role to play in decarbonising shipping and defence.

This Government have already ended the de facto ban on onshore wind, and have plans for doubling onshore wind, trebling solar and quadrupling offshore wind, as well as reforming the planning system. With Cornish Lithium’s Hard Rock plant recently designated a nationally significant site of strategic infrastructure, planning could be streamlined and fast-tracked. GB Energy has been working with the Crown Estate to invest in the infrastructure that will make floating offshore wind happen and provide the certainty to draw in investment. Our new local power plan will provide £3.3 billion for grants and loans for those local energy projects—the biggest expansion in community-owned energy in history. This will enable communities to own—in the realest sense—the energy they rely on and allow local authorities, such as Cornwall, to exploit the energy sources on our doorstep, like the geothermal assets on council land that could be heating homes.

Great British Energy Bill

Noah Law Excerpts

2nd reading
Thursday 5th September 2024 Commons Chamber

[Noah Law (St Austell and Newquay) (Lab)]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for allowing me to make this, my first speech to the House. It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Barrow and Furness (Michelle Scrogham).

It is the honour of my life to have the chance to represent St Austell and Newquay, the stunning heartland of Cornwall that touches both of our beautiful coastlines and that has so greatly shaped my life. That ranges from the springboard that I was given at Fowey community college, to learning to play the violin in Par and to ride the waves at Newquay, or by inspiring me to craft a career in financing the kind of natural resources that we are fortunate to have there—I am always available with that experience for Opposition Members who cannot quite spot it—and as a campaigner these past few years, where I have heard so many inspiring voices that helped me to build the grassroots platform that brought me to this House. It is with deep gratitude that I take my place here, mindful of the trust and responsibility placed in me by the people of St Austell and Newquay.

I pay tribute to my predecessor, Steve Double, for the work that he did for St Austell and Newquay during his five years in office. Steve was a hard-working MP who championed, among many other things, the Cornish railways and Cornwall’s pioneering model of tri-service safety officers, both of which I look forward to taking up with vigour.

St Austell bay, Newquay and the clay country that lies in between mean that we are perhaps the most diverse and therefore representative of Cornish seats. From the tributaries of the White river that shipped our clay to the world, down on the eastern side from Roche, Bugle, Stenalees, Penwithick, Trethurgy and Tregrehan, down past St Blazey and Tywardreath to the great harbours of Par, Charlestown, Mevagissey, Fowey and its peninsula, and to the numerous namesakes of St Columba and her parish, Quintrell Downs, St Colan and the village and parish of St Enoder, with Summercourt, Fraddon and Indian Queens. In the west, we have St Stephen-in-Brannel, Grampound, Creed, St Ewe, Sticker, Polgooth, Trewoon, Lanjeth, Foxhole, Nanpean, Treviscoe, St Dennis and Whitemoor—to name a few.

With such a patchwork of ancient settlements across this powerhouse of the Cornish economy, the House will forgive me for seldom referring to the constituency as rural, despite our wealth of prime farmland that feeds our Cornish nation, Britain and beyond. Not only does St Austell and Newquay feature well-known agrifood, beverage and tourism industries; it is also the industrial heartland of Cornwall, boasting many of the industries we need to build a greener future, including renewables, critical minerals and the supply chain that sits behind them. Our constituency stands as a testament to Cornwall’s resilience and ingenuity, blending traditional industries with modern innovation, and I am committed to ensuring that this balance continues to flourish, so we can ensure that this once powerhouse of the Cornish economy is restored.

Beyond our unique economic challenges and opportunities, which demand a right to local decision making, we have a distinct Celtic heritage, language and national minority status, and a national pride: a pride that is inclusive, whether of families resident here for generations, those of proud northern stock or Windrush stock—or all of the above, like my own family—or those who have chosen to make their home in Cornwall more recently. Cornwall’s heritage is not just a relic of the past but a living, breathing part of our identity, shaping our values and aspirations as a community. It is therefore vital that we preserve and promote that heritage for future generations, ensuring that it remains a cornerstone of our cultural and social fabric.

This new parliamentary Session under the Labour Government offers real promise, and I am particularly pleased that they will deliver the largest increase in social homes in a generation. That will change lives, particularly the lives of my generation and the next, and give hope to those who never had it. It is also important to ensure that the right kind of homes are built, and that local people can afford to live and work in Cornwall—a reality that has long been impossible because of the vicious cycle of low wages and housing unaffordability. I will work tirelessly to ensure that Cornwall’s interests are represented and the voices of my constituents are heard at the highest levels of Government, and I will advocate policies that will bring tangible benefits to our people.

I am entering Parliament alongside three other Cornish Labour MPs, who reflect a sea change in the political landscape there. With Cornish Labour MPs in a Labour Government, I am thrilled to provide the strong voice in Westminster that we have so seldom had. But our political culture remains consistent: in people’s rightful expectation of our service; in our egalitarianism; and in our healthy scepticism towards established politics and the centralisation of power, whether that be in Westminster, in single individuals or in out-of-touch bureaucracies that fail to deliver for working people.

In that spirit, I pledge to serve with integrity, to listen to all voices within our community and to champion the values that make Cornwall so special, ensuring that our future is as bright and prosperous as our history is rich and storied. No more shifting the deckchairs: we are going to get Cornwall building again—to a blueprint built of the voices of those who put me here.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

I call Angus MacDonald to make his maiden speech.