£81bn planned for renewable energy by 2025

3rd November 2014

Barbour ABI

Barney Scott

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Recently released figures reveal that over £81bn is to be invested in proposed renewable energy projects by 2025, representing almost half of all infrastructure spending in the UK. Barbour ABI, a provider of construction data to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Government, has released data revealing a total of 405 renewable energy projects in the pipeline.

An astounding 388 of these schemes are new build, indicating the significance of the renewable energy sector within construction. Proposed high-value projects include the £25bn Severn Barrage, phases one to six of the East Anglia One off-shore wind farm, worth £10.8bn collectively, and the £3.75bn Hornsea off-shore wind farm.

The data also highlights the importance of wind power in the renewable energy mix, with wind farms accounting for nine of the top 10 most valuable projects. The data follows a report from the Adam Smith Institute and Scientific Alliance published recently which argues that wind farms are “unreliable” and “intermittent”.

Michael Dall, Lead Economist, Barbour ABI, commented: “The scale of renewable energy projects proposed in the UK is staggering and investment in this sector shows no signs of slowing. According to our latest Economic & Construction Market Review, utilities were the major infrastructure project type in September and this is no surprise given the number and value of contracts being awarded which is due, among other things, to the levels of subsidy currently provided by the Government. With a number of these projects already confirmed and many more at early stages of planning, the future of renewable energy construction in the UK looks bright.”