This blog post was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Avatar photo

Paul Johnston

Ambassador to Ireland

Part of FCDO Outreach

2nd August 2013

Going with the wind

The UK is one of the most attractive locations in the world to invest in the offshore wind sector. There are huge development projects in the pipeline, as well as the prospect of long-term price stability.

With our recent announcements on Electricity Market Reform, the UK is the first country in the world to give funding clarity through to 2021, visibility of prices to 2018/19 and price certainty to projects awarded a “Contract for Difference” as well as a legally binding emissions target.

We’re doing all this because we see the climate imperative, and the business opportunity, of offshore wind.

The UK is now, and predicted to remain, the largest market in Europe. The government’s new Offshore Wind Industrial Strategy, published on 1 August, aims to deliver on this potential by promoting innovation, investment and economic growth in the UK supply chain.

The Offshore Wind Industrial Strategy was developed in partnership with industry. The Strategy was produced alongside the draft delivery plan for Electricity Market Reform (EMR). It builds upon the announcement of draft ‘strike’ prices for renewable technologies, including offshore wind, published on 27 June, giving industry clarity about the prices that might be offered under the new Contract for Difference (CfD) in EMR.  I blogged about that at the time.

Measures set out in the Offshore Wind Industrial Strategy include:

  • £20m from the Regional Growth Fund for GROW: Offshore Wind, a new Manufacturing Advisory Service programme to support the UK supply chain to become more competitive;
  • £46m funding over five years for the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult Centre to join up innovation between industry, Government and academia and enable innovative companies to bring their products to market;
  • Expansion of the scope of the DECC Offshore Wind Manufacturing funding scheme to support port and coastal infrastructure development in assisted areas of England. Any grants offered will be conditional on sites securing manufacturing investment.

The strategy can be found here. Or you can contact Daniel Nutley at the UK Embassy for more advice.

About Paul Johnston

Paul Johnston joined the UK Civil Service in 1990, working for the Ministry of Defence initially. He has served in Paris and New York and has also had a wide…

Paul Johnston joined the UK Civil Service in 1990, working for the Ministry of Defence initially.

He has served in Paris and New York and has also had a wide range of political and security roles in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London. Paul joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1993 as Desk Officer for Bosnia. As part of this role he was also Private Secretary to EU negotiator Lord Owen and his representative on Bosnia Contact Group.

His first foreign posting was to Paris in 1995-99 as Second Secretary Political. He was Private Secretary to the Ambassador and latterly part of the UK delegation to the Kosovo Rambouillet negotiations. Then he returned to London as Head of the Kosovo Policy Team, leading work on post-conflict policy in the EU, NATO, UN and G8.

Before his second overseas posting to New York in 2005, Paul held a variety of other EU policy and security appointments in London, such as Head of European Defence Section between 2000-01 and Head of Security Policy Department between 2002-04.

As Head of the Political Section in UKMIS New York, he advised on major policy issues for the UK on the Security Council and the UN World Summit, including the UK EU Presidency in 2005.

Paul returned to London in 2008 as Director, International Security for the FCO. He was responsible for policy on UN, NATO, European Security, arms control and disarmament, human rights and good governance.

Paul was British Ambassador to Sweden from August 2011 to August 2015 and then was Deputy Permanent Representative to NATO.

He was UK Ambassador to the EU for Political and Security affairs from 2017 to January 2020 and became Ambassador to Ireland in September 2020.

Follow Paul