UK subsidy for wind, not for nuclear

• 13 years ago (2010-07-26)
• David Flin

Europe 1068 Nuclear 643 Renewables 757

---

UK’s Energy Secretary Chris Huhne said in an interview yesterday that he favours harnessing both offshore and onshore wind power, and that the UK will not subsidise a new generation of nuclear power stations. He said that wind energy deserves government aid because the industry is in its infancy, while nuclear power has been well established for decades. The Dogger Bank in the north east of England, off the North Sea, was an area particularly suited for development for offshore wind turbines, Huhne said.

“There are two different types of subsidy; one is that we have an overall framework to make sure that we get low-carbon electricity and that we become more energy self-sufficient,” Huhne said in an interview with Sky News ahead of an announcement to Parliament on July 27.

Huhne said that the government will “encourage” wind technology at the beginning, and when it is cost-competitive, it can “fly on its own.” He said: “There will be no special subsidies for nuclear compared with these infant technologies.”