UPDATE: Industry welcomes PM pledge and wants to work with next government to deliver beefed-up target

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pledged to increase the UK’s offshore wind target to 40GW for 2030.

Johnson said the government will add 10GW to the existing 30GW goal if his Conservative party is re-elected in next month's General Election.

The current target was established earlier this year in a joint industry-state sector deal.

The PM said the increased 40GW by 2030 ambition would create 9000 new jobs.

The Conservative party has been contacted for further details of the policy announcement but has not responded.

The Offshore Wind Industry Council welcomed Boris Johnson’s commitment, which it said will quadruple the UK’s offshore wind capacity from 8.5GW today.

Co-chair Benj Sykes said the move would boost the nation’s ability to reach net-zero emissions at low cost using a technology which can deliver at scale.

“The announcement contains a key commitment to taking cross-Government actions to enable us to reach 40GW by 2030,” he said.

“Offshore wind is now cheaper than gas, nuclear and coal and creates tens of thousands of jobs.

“As the world leader in offshore wind, this is a technology that the UK is right to be proud of. We look forward to working with whichever party forms the next Government to implement the actions we need to deliver an increased target for offshore wind”.

John Sauven, executive director at Greenpeace UK, also welcomed the pledge.

“While the Prime Minister doesn’t seem particularly keen to publicise it, the move from 30GW to 40GW as the 2030 target for offshore wind is genuinely significant,” he said.

“Offshore wind is now clearly the backbone of the UK's energy system.

“To set us on track to meeting the net zero target, renewable generation needs to be tripled between now and 2030. So we will still need even more offshore and onshore wind and solar to plug the gap, but this increase in ambition is very welcome."

The UK Labour party has a plan to set up a state-backed investment company to support the building of 37 new offshore wind farms in domestic waters by 2030.

The ‘People Power Plan’ would see 52GW of offshore wind online by the end of the next decade, up from the existing 30GW target.

A General Election will take place on 12 December.