We didn't need the threat of Russian gas taps being turned off to appreciate that the UK's energy needs require some hard decisions to be made over the next few years. With existing nuclear capacity going offline and the promised boom in shale gas fracking not yet here, the need for offshore wind power is still present. But it faces some significant hurdles before the next round of projects can be committed to construction. As Simon Rawlinson recently commented in these pages ("Blown off course" Building 6 March, page 26), since Christmas we have seen the cancellation of approximately 3.2GW of planned capacity. Potential financiers of the round three projects are looking at the likely costs of construction and comparing them to the strike prices available for the power once it is finally generated - and as yet the numbers are a little tight for comfort.
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