Budget Cuts May Hamper Humber Wind Turbine Project

A £60 million fund intended for the creation of wind turbine manufacturing centres in Humber, Yorkshire is under threat following news that the government are reviewing the situation to determine whether the project is financially viable at this time.

The fund was initially set aside by the Labour government in their budget last year, and was promoted as a means of creating around 10,000 jobs in the region, as well as confirming the area as a major centre for turbine manufacturing. These concerns arise just days after the decision to postpone or abandon all together circa £150 million worth of projects in the Yorkshire area.

Such a reduction in funding, despite the immediate savings, will damage the economy in the lung run according to Ed Miliband, shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary, and MP for Doncaster North. He believes that the deferral of the project would be a prime example of the "short-termism" which many Labour MPs believe to be a common trait of the ConLib coalition. Miliband insists that:

"In order to reduce the deficit you've got to have a plan for where the growth in the economy is going to come from."

The previous pledge demanding that renewable energy supply 15% of the UK's energy needs by 2020 will look increasingly bleak if this project should be put on hold, or even cancelled. On top of this, the industry was expected to create approximately 70,000 jobs by the same deadline.

Although there are factors in play which make the prospect of manufacturing new wind turbines on a large scale - such as the exceedingly high price of steel - the benefits of wind power are remarkable. One such advantage is their exemption from global fuel market rate changes.

At a time when renewable energy is being viewed as the future of energy supply, and when many are turning to this type of power on both commercial and domestic levels in the form of small or home wind turbines, it is disheartening that such a key project as this should be scrapped.