The UK Government has stepped in to guarantee the future of a range of renewable energy infrastructure schemes. The privately-backed projects will be underwritten using funds from the £40bn UK Guarantee Scheme, set up in 2012, if sufficient commercial funding cannot be found.

A total of 13 schemes have been earmarked for potential help, including education and transport projects. The renewable energy schemes include a new wind farm on the Forth Estuary, a £300m biomass power plant in Bristol and two gas-fired power stations in Essex and Lincolnshire.

On top of the newly-announced projects, the Government has already agreed to underwrite the £16bn cost of building the new Hinkley Point nuclear power station, which will be built by EDF Energy in partnership with Chinese investors.

Wilding says: ‘Hopefully the promise of Government funding will help get these schemes – some of them long-awaited – off the ground. The UK’s energy infrastructure is crying out for an upgrade and the renewables projects that have been earmarked for help are a crucial part of this work.’

Source: BBC