Charles Kennedy to call on coalition to back £60m offshore wind port fund

Former Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy is to table an Early Day Motion (EDM) in parliament calling on the government to retain a £60m plan to upgrade port facilities to better support the UK's emerging offshore wind energy industry.

The grant, which was announced by the previous government, is currently being assessed as part of the coalition's spending review. The investment is widely regarded as critical to the future of the UK's emerging offshore wind energy sector with manufacturers such as GE and Siemens warning their plans to build new turbine factories in the UK are conditional on the funding getting the go ahead.

Kennedy's intervention will raise questions about the prospect of a backbench rebellion should the funding be axed.

The EDM has been developed with support from trade association RenewableUK and is expected to be tabled this week.

Adam Bell, national campaigns co-ordinator with RenewableUK, said it was currently seeking co-sponsors for the motion and is in talks with both Conservative and Labour MPs.

"We want it to be clear that this is not a party political issue – this investment has cross-party support and is about creating jobs, unlocking investment and boosting economic value for the UK," he said, adding that the port funding could help to create an estimated 50,000 jobs.

RenewableUK is now planning a month-long campaign to build support for the EDM and secure an official response from the government.

Earlier in the summer industry sources indicated that they had been given the nod by the government that the funding programme would be retained. However, following the coalition's decision to pre-empt the spending review by announcing it would retain the previous government's electric car incentive scheme concerns have mounted that it is taking a long time for a similar commitment to be made over the port funding.

"The indications are still positive," said Bell. "But at the same time everything that goes into the spending review faces the risk of not coming out of the spending review."

The news comes on the same day as reports claimed the government is preparing to ditch plans for a tidal barrage across the Severn, instead favouring a cheaper alternative proposal for a smaller scale tidal energy farm.