Onshore wind farms could be built without any need for Government subsidies “in the near future”, energy minister Andrea Leadsom has said.
Ms Leadsom said people in the industry had told her wind turbines could become cost effective enough to operate without state support.
She defended the Government’s decision to end subsidies for onshore wind, a move that is likely to see around 250 wind farms currently in development scrapped.
During energy questions in the Commons, Ms Leadsom said: “We have explained time and time again that the bill-payers’ subsidy is there to promote the emerging technologies in the low carbon and renewables sector.
“It’s not there to give long-term support to different projects.
“And interestingly, just in the last few days, talking to people in the industry, they are saying they think they could in the near future look at contracts for onshore wind without subsidies at all.
“That’s exactly where we want to get to.”
She was replying to Labour shadow energy minister Julie Elliott, who accused the Government of replacing the cheapest renewable electricity source with more expensive options.
Ms Elliott said: “Can you explain how, if you have a fixed renewables target and a fixed budget and then you replace the cheapest renewable electricity technology, which is onshore wind, with more expensive technologies, this can possibly lead to lower bills for the consumer?”
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