> Offshore wind isn't as cost effective as solar, it's the poster boy for high-cost, low-value renewable energy

Its not clear cut.

Part of the reason why electricity is so expensive in the UK is that its tied to natural gas prices. some of it is CFD, but most of it is because a lot of our power comes from natural gas.

We pay for gas on the open market because we aren't self sufficient for gas any more.

Yes solar is cheaper to deploy, but its not as useful on its own. Wind is far far better in the winter.

What we should be doing is getting nuclear plants built. Small ones ideally, but a few bigguns will do. Then we won't be so reliant on natural gas. We also need to get those extra transmission cables built.

(note we could have built 10 nuclear power plants, well EDF at 2002 power prices, but the present government balked because nuclear is bad yo.)

UK energy prices are set by the most expensive energy source in the mix that contributes to the National Grid, which happens to be gas.

Now imagine if you paid for a giant wind project that never produced a Joule. Great for energy prices.

Uk energy costs are high because the highest cost marginal producer sets the rate i.e. gas powered stations

Many of the new wind farms get a fixed price for energy and when the wholesale price is about that the excess gets channeled into a fund that is used to reduce consumer prices

energy development is complex, but it cannot be your idea, which boils down to, "whatever is cheapest," especially for government policy. it would be cheapest to not use energy at all, which is the exact opposite of the mercenary POV you are talking about, without having to use the word environment at all.