Over 8,000 jobs in renewable energy announced by government

RA Now

Eight major renewable projects resulting in 8,500 new jobs have been announced by the government as part of electricity reforms.

The projects across the UK and Northern Ireland will deliver low-carbon, affordable and reliable green power, energy secretary Ed Davey said.

By 2020, the projects will provide up to £12 billion of private sector investment, supporting 8,500 jobs and will generate clean electricity to three million homes across the country, he added.

This news follows a speech in which Davey said that the Coalition government investment in the energy sector will result in 250,000 jobs by 2020, following the implementation of the Energy Act.

The majority of the jobs (200,000) will be in the renewables sector, which includes offshore and onshore wind, biomass and solar power.

The Act promises that by 2020,  a total of 10 million homes in the UK will be powered by green energy, resulting in carbon dioxide emissions dropping by 20 million tonnes a year, which equates to the annual emissions from seven million households or 30% of the cars in the UK.

“Around one-fifth of generating capacity is due to close over the next decade, including all but one of our nuclear power stations as well as almost all coal stations,” Davey said. “To meet this energy gap, Liberal Democrats in government have already secured more than £30 billion of investment in renewables and the Energy Act puts in place the framework to unlock a further £40 billion.”