MPs, Greenpeace and renewables industry join forces to save port upgrades

Former Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy has secured cross party support for his campaign to save the proposed £60m offshore wind port investment programme from the government's spending review.

Kennedy today tabled an Early Day Motion (EDM) calling on the coalition to retain the previous government's plans to upgrade ports to help them support the installation of offshore wind farms, with Conservative MP Peter Aldous and Labour MP Alan Whitehead signed up as co-sponsors.

"I have always believed very strongly in the potential of renewables to rejuvenate the UK’s economy – particularly in old industrial areas, in which many of the ports eligible for this funding lie," said Kennedy. "The possibility of building our own home-grown industry should not be passed up."

The EDM was timed to coincide with the launch of a major campaign from trade association RenewableUK, which is aiming to ensure that the £60m investment programme survives the government's spending review.

The campaign is being backed by environmental lobby group Greenpeace, which is encouraging its members to write to MPs in affected areas calling on them to support the EDM.

Earlier in the summer, industry insiders expressed confidence that the ports programme would be retained by the government. But the government's failure to confirm that it will make it through the spending review unscathed has stoked fears that the investment could be cut, jeopardizing plans from GE and Siemens to locate new turbine manufacturing facilities in the UK.

"We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to become a world-leader in offshore wind but if we fail to capitalise on the lead we have in this sector, those jobs will be lost to rival countries already competing with us to attract offshore wind manufacturers," warned Dr Gordon Edge, director of policy at RenewableUK. "We are urging the government to make the important distinction between current spending and investment, as the infrastructure spending will ultimately deliver mass employment and business benefits at a local and regional level."

RenewableUK estimates that the port investment could help to create up to 50,000 jobs across the wind energy supply chain as growing numbers of firms choose to locate manufacturing facilities in the UK.

Kennedy's support for the campaign will prompt speculation that the coalition could face protests from its own backbenches if it scales back support for the wind energy industry.

A spokesman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change said the government remained committed to developing a UK manufacturing base for the offshore wind sector, but refused to confirm whether the port upgrade investment would survive the spending review.

"Funding for offshore wind ports infrastructure has not been selected for suspension or cancellation as part of the recent cost cutting exercise, but as with all public spending it is being reviewed in the context of the spending review," he said.