BORIS Johnson’s long-awaited energy plan is on the rocks as ministers publicly disagree over the possibility of more onshore wind farms.
The delayed proposals are being designed to reduce reliance on foreign oil and gas, particularly from Putin’s Russia.
The PM is set to push for more small nuclear modular reactors and offshore wind in the plan, due to be published on Thursday.
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However, a boost to onshore wind farms was publicly opposed by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps on Sky News on Sunday, who claimed they are “noisy” and an “eyesore”.
The Daily Mail reports that this view is shared by many Tories in middle England, which could mean the majority could be built in areas such as the Scottish Highlands.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng previously said that the UK Government is looking at how to relax planning laws to make it easier to build more onshore wind farms.
The Scottish Greens have criticised the focus on nuclear, noting that it leaves a “legacy of toxic waste” that future generations will be left with.
It has been suggested the UK Government is taking so long to put out the report because it is waiting to see how the public responds to the plans before making a final decision.
Speaking on Sky News, Shapps said that it’s important to “spread the variety of ways in which we create energy” in the UK and across the world.
He said: “So next week in the energy strategy we’ll be looking for a greater mix of different ways to produce our energy, which do not rely on imported hydrocarbons, the gas and oil side of things, particularly from Russia, so you might expect to see more small nuclear reactors, nuclear power, you might expect to see more offshore wind power.
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“Those I think would be the things to look for, more solar as well.
Journalist Sophie Ridge pressed Shapps on the fact that nuclear power plants can take between 13 and 17 years to produce electricity, and asked if planning laws would be relaxed to allow more onshore wind, as previously suggested by Kwarteng.
He added: “I don't favour a vast increase in onshore wind farms, for pretty obvious reasons.
“They sit on the hills there and can create something of an eyesore for communities as well as actual problems of noise as well.
“So I think for reasons of environmental protection, the way to go with this is largely not entirely but largely offshore.”
Shapps also said that nuclear modular reactors “are likely to be one of the important ways to move forward”.
Business Secretary Kwarteng has previously said that relaxing planning laws for onshore wind farms is the solution.
He told the I newspaper: “I think the Prime Minister has been very clear that onshore wind has got to be part of the mix and we’ve got to look at planning.
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“We are not saying we are going to scrap all planning rules and all of these things have got to be in line with community support.”
“The argument about onshore wind in 2015 was a historic argument even before we committed to net-zero and the circumstances today with Putin, Russia, Saudi Arabia, all of those things mean that we’ve got to have more energy independence and I think onshore renewables are absolutely part of that.”
Kwarteng has since pulled back on the assertion and told the Sunday Telegraph that local opposition to fracking and onshore wind will be taken into account.
It has been almost four weeks since Johnson first touted the plan.
Delays are reportedly due to Chancellor Rishi Sunak [above] refusing to hand over any extra cash for the policy, and that ministers are flip-flopping on the content.
A Scottish Greens source told The National: “This energy plan has been delayed for weeks and I suspect they keep shifting the focus of it, based on how people respond to the mood music from the government.
“It doesn’t help that Number 10 and the Treasury don’t agree on nuclear or onshore wind.”
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The Scottish Greens told the National that the costs of nuclear would not help consumers struggling with rising bills, adding that Hinckley Point C in Somerset, which is estimated to have cost between £22 and £23 billion to bring into operation, and was beleaguered with delays.
Energy spokesperson Mark Ruskell said: “The UK Government seems desperate to pass that cost directly onto energy consumers.
“Not only that, nuclear power generates a legacy of toxic waste to pass on to future generations.
“Scotland has amazing potential in clean renewable energy, but it requires the political will to meet that.
“With Greens in government Scotland is paving the way for expansion, but while energy policy is reserved we’ve seen vast subsidies channelled into fossil fuels and nuclear by successive U.K. Governments, with no indication that is going to change anytime soon.”
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