UK needs urgent 'master plan' on renewable energy, warns National Grid.

(From Guardian Unlimited)

The UK government must urgently draw up a "master plan" to have any chance of meeting the UK's ambitious 2020 renewable energy targets, the chief executive of National Grid has warned.

Steve Holliday called for more subsidies and tighter regulation of energy markets, even at the expense of competition, to make sure enough wind farms and other forms of renewable energy are built in time.

National Grid says some 32GW of wind power will be needed by 2020 for Britain to hit its EU target -- the equivalent of more than 30 new conventional coal or nuclear power stations. Two-thirds of this will need to be sited at sea. "That is …