Hornsea 4 Wind Farm Cancellation Sparks Criticism of UK Climate Targets
The cancellation of the Hornsea 4 offshore wind project has triggered fresh criticism of the UK’s climate policy, with one leading energy analyst calling legally binding climate targets a “folly”.
Orsted, the Danish energy company behind the Hornsea projects, has halted plans for the latest phase of its North Sea development, casting doubt over the UK’s ability to meet its 2030 targets for decarbonising the electricity grid.
Responding to the decision, Andy Mayer, Energy Analyst at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), said the cancellation highlighted serious flaws in the government’s approach to net zero.
“The cancellation of Orsted’s Hornsea offshore wind project is a reminder of the folly of legally binding climate targets. The Government’s plan to decarbonise the power grid by 2030 denies real trade-offs between lower emissions, energy security and affordability,” said Mayer.
“Businesses understand these trade-offs and recognise how key they are to the Government hitting its legal target. They can therefore extract a higher price for their services, which helps ensure the UK continues to have the most expensive energy in the world.
“The Government needs to think again, moderate their ambitions, replace targets with aspirations, and restore competition and price discipline to energy markets. If they can restore affordable abundance as the goal for energy policy, the UK will decarbonise faster, investing in the most efficient projects first, not the most greedy.”
The Hornsea 4 cancellation follows similar delays and setbacks in the offshore wind sector, where developers have raised concerns about rising construction costs, supply chain bottlenecks, and regulatory uncertainty.
Critics of the government’s climate strategy argue that rigid legal targets push policymakers into approving costly or less efficient projects in order to meet deadlines, rather than allowing market forces to identify the most viable paths to decarbonisation.
Supporters of the targets, however, maintain that firm deadlines are essential to drive investment, innovation, and international credibility in the UK’s climate commitments.
The government has yet to formally respond to the cancellation of Hornsea 4 or Mayer’s comments. However, the setback is likely to reignite debate over whether net zero policies are progressing at the right pace—and at an acceptable cost to households and businesses.
