UK will build back greener after COVID crisis, Johnson says

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will put renewable power infrastructure at the heart of its plans to recover from the coronavirus crisis, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday.

"Our seas hold immense potential to power our homes and communities with low-cost green energy and we are already leading the way in harnessing its strengths," Johnson said in a speech to his Conservative Party.

"Now, as we build back better we must build back greener. So we are committing to new ambitious targets and investment into wind power to accelerate our progress towards net zero emissions by 2050."

A 160 million-pound investment in ports and factories is part of a drive to quadruple Britain's offshore wind capacity to 40 gigawatts by 2030, around half of Britain's electricity capacity now from all sources.

(Reporting by William James; Writing by William Schomberg; editing by Kate Holton)