Doubts have arisen over whether the government’s flagship 2030 clean energy target can be met in time after Britain’s RWE boss admitted several newly awarded offshore wind projects are unlikely to come online by the end of the decade.
The German energy group was the biggest winner in the government’s recent offshore wind funding auction, securing five of the six contracts awarded. Ministers welcomed the result as a key step towards achieving Ed Miliband’s target of a near-fully decarbonised energy system by 2030.
However, Tom Glover, RWE’s UK chief executive, said after the auction that it was unrealistic to expect all five projects, with a total capacity of 6.9 gigawatts, to generate electricity by that date.
When asked directly whether the projects would be online by 2030, Glover replied: “Probably not.”
Three of the five RWE projects are scheduled to begin operations in the 2030/31 financial year, making delivery before the end of 2030 “difficult,” he said. Two of the largest projects located in the Dogger Bank off the east coast of England are still awaiting planning permission, with the decision recently postponed until the end of April.
Network access is another limitation. The Dogger Bank projects are currently not expected to be connected to the grid until October 2030. After that, another commissioning period would be required before power could flow into the system.
Glover emphasized that the exact timing should not overshadow the size of the investment involved. “That’s more than £20 billion of investment in the UK’s infrastructure,” he said. “We shouldn’t be too negative about whether the delivery is a few months late.”
His comments contrast with the government’s more confident assessment. Chris Stark, head of mission control for the Clean Power program, said the auction secured nearly 8.5 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity that is expected to be operational by 2030, calling it “critical” to achieving the goal.
The government aims for at least 95 percent of electricity generation to come from clean sources by 2030, up from around 74 percent in 2024. Offshore wind energy is at the heart of this plan, with a target of at least 43 gigawatts of installed capacity by the end of the decade. Officials expect the latest auction would increase operating capacity to around 36 gigawatts by 2030, with further rounds to come.
However, the auction results have also highlighted wider structural challenges facing the sector, including planning delays, grid connection bottlenecks and the long lead times required for large offshore developments.
The only non-RWE project to win a contract was the first phase of SSE’s Berwick Bank wind farm in the outer Firth of Forth, whose power generation is also not due to start until 2030-31, adding to concerns over delivery timelines.
RWE, already one of Britain’s largest power producers, expects total investment across its five projects to exceed £20 billion, shared with partners such as KKR, which takes a 50 percent stake in the Norfolk projects, and Masdar, which owns 49 percent of the Dogger Bank schemes. Other partners include the Munich municipal utilities and Siemens.
Glover said RWE was aiming for a British share of around 50 per cent throughout the life of the projects, underlining their importance not only for decarbonisation but also for industrial investment and supply chains.
While ministers remain optimistic, RWE’s comments highlight a growing tension between policy objectives and the practical reality of rapidly deploying complex energy infrastructure.
