The Boiler Upgrade Scheme has been given approval by DESNZ to increase the budget and over-allocate vouchers with an additional £25m of funding in this financial year (2024 to 2025).

The additional finance will increase the total BUS budget to £205m.

The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero has also given permission for Ofgem to over-allocate vouchers to a total of £280m, to provide certainty that vouchers will continue to be available.

DESNZ has also introduced new measures to ‘unlock’ £30bn of investment in new offshore wind projects, permitting development of up to thirteen offshore wind projects as part of the Government’s Plan for Change. The projects could generate up to 16GW of electricity when complete.

Energy Minister Michael Shanks said: “Offshore wind will be the backbone of delivering clean power by 2030 as we enter a new era of clean electricity.”

The measures follow the announcement of the Government’s forthcoming Planning and Infrastructure Bill to streamline consent for infrastructure projects and supporting nature recovery.

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