Energy Security Secretary, Grant Shapps, recently announced a wide range of steps in his ‘Powering Up Britain’ strategy to scale up the UK’s green energy capabilities. We caught up with our Head of Sustainable Energy, Darren Edwards, for his view on the government’s latest announcement with plans to provide further energy security and help the transition to net zero. The strategy includes plans to relax planning laws around onshore wind and encourage more solar installations, plus initiatives to support other schemes such as hydrogen.
“I’m happy that Shapps’ announcement provided a lift for many parties looking to deliver green projects, but I am concerned that the proposals do not go far enough. This announcement is a long overdue acknowledgement of the critical importance of energy security to the UK economy as well as our transition to net zero and the ongoing battle against climate change.
“‘Powering Up Britain’ offers reassurance to industry stakeholders that Government remains committed to implementing policy change following a period of dormancy when there has been a lot of talk about, but little action. The government’s intention to reform and speed up the planning process to attract investment into new solar and onshore wind projects, a £205m budget for the next round of the Contracts for Difference scheme, and continued support for green hydrogen production projects under the £240 million Net Zero Hydrogen Fund as reasons for stakeholders to be optimistic.
“Despite there being no formal announcement yet on the outcome of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) consultation into the onshore wind in England, the Government has once again recognised its importance as an efficient, cheap and widely supported technology. This is encouraging, with greater flexibility for local authorities expected to unlock new onshore wind projects in the near future. This will be music to the ears of clients that missed out on the opportunity under the Renewables Obligation and Feed-in Tariff schemes.
“On solar, the Government’s clarification that deployment should be focussed on brownfield, industrial and only low to medium-grade agricultural land is also helpful and will enable us to advise and support clients appropriately moving forward. One area where we are seeing a huge increase in enquiries is roof-mounted PV for industrial and commercial properties, so the Government’s plan for ‘widespread deployment’ on those types of buildings looks set to see that interest rise further, especially as public-facing organisations look to enhance their ESG credentials.
“The buzz around green hydrogen continues to grow. It is expected to be a key solution for powering industry and heavy transport in the future. The Government’s ambitions give me comfort that our efforts to date working with key players on some of the first green hydrogen schemes in the UK will pay dividends.
“Despite the many positives that can be drawn from the Powering Up Britain proposal, I still have reservations over remaining policy gaps and how these are likely to continue to hinder progress at the rate required. The UK has long held an ambition to be the world leader in the race to net zero and whilst this most recent announcement goes some way to remind people of that, there continue to be key policy gaps which will undoubtedly hold back progress.
“We stand beside the US and Europe in the battle against climate change but at the same time are competing with them for global investment in renewables and cleantech. The funding packages set out within the report pale into insignificance when compared to the $369bn subsidy plan announced by Joe Biden last year under the Inflation Reduction Act and the €250bn being mooted by the European Union.”
