The Government has today unveiled what it claims to be the most ambitious reforms to the country’s energy system in a generation promising 95 per cent of energy to be clean by 2030
The plans it says will mean better protection from rollercoaster of fossil fuel markets, with plan to unblock the grid, speed up planning decisions and build more renewables to make Britain energy secure with clean power by 2030
Clean power will unlock £40 billion of investment a year and reindustrialise Britain with thousands of skilled jobs across the country
The plan sets out bold measures to get more homegrown clean power to people. These include: cleaning up a dysfunctional grid system by prioritising the most important projects and ending the “first-come-first served” system; speeding up decisions on planning permission by empowering planners to prioritise critical energy infrastructure; and expanding the renewable auction process to stop delays and get more projects connected.
It follows the signing on Tuesday this week of the Final Investment Decision for the UK’s first Carbon Capture project in Teesside – delivering thousands of new, skilled jobs in the North East of England.
The East Coast Cluster – which will capture and store carbon emissions from industries in the region – is set to start construction in mid-2025.
On Thursday, Orsted announced up to £100 million worth of contracts for its Hornsea 3 offshore wind farm, supporting jobs across three supply chain companies in the North of England.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said:
A new era of clean electricity for our country offers a positive vision of Britain’s future with energy security, lower bills, good jobs and climate action. This can only happen with big, bold change and that is why the government is embarking on the most ambitious reforms to our energy system in generations.
The era of clean electricity is about harnessing the power of Britain’s natural resources so we can protect working people from the ravages of global energy markets.
The clean power sprint is the national security, economic security, and social justice fight of our time – and this plan gives us the tools we need to win this fight for the British people.
