LONDON (Reuters) - The cost of building Britain's offshore wind farms remains high due to rising supply chain development costs and is threatening to derail carbon reduction targets, the body in charge of UK coastal seabeds said. The Crown Estate, responsible for issuing tenders for offshore wind farms, said that the government should find a mechanism for underwriting the risk of developing new technologies, such as bigger turbines, in order to hit its targets in reducing emissions.
"I don't think it should be a subsidy or grant, but the government could take some of the risk from a technology developer who is trying to accelerate its programme to match up against the government's target," Rob Hastings, director of marine estates, said at the sidelines of the Renewables 2010 conference on Wednesday.
