UNEXPLODED ORDNANCE - Wind Energy Network

INDUSTRY ARTICLE
Energy Bill
John Cridland, CBI Director-General
“This package will send a strong signal to
investors that the Government is serious
about providing firms with the certainty they
need to invest in affordable secure lowcarbon
energy.
“We now have political agreement on this
critical issue and the Government should get
the bill on the statute books as quickly as
possible.
Dr Tim Fox, Head of Energy and Environment
at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers
“The publication of this new bill is good news
for engineers, investors and the general public
as it means we are a significant step closer to
getting on with the job of building the major
infrastructure projects needed to keep our
homes warm, the lights on and industry working.
“With a looming energy gap for 2015, creating
a stable regulatory framework for the energy
sector is absolutely crucial for investor
confidence.
“The fact that energy intensive industries will be
exempt from the additional costs to encourage
investment in low carbon power is also positive,
as it means UK industry won’t be placed at
an unfair disadvantage when competing in
international markets selling products such as
steel.”
www.imeche.org
Sam Pick, of the Renewables Network,
Humber-based membership organisation
“It’s very positive that government support for
low-carbon energy will increase to £7.6 billion
by 2020.
“This should provide stability and confidence for
renewable energy developers to commit to the
UK market.
“That in turn provides exciting opportunities
throughout the supply chain for small British
businesses to break into this high growth
industry.”
www.renewablesnetwork.co.uk
James Cameron, Chairman, Climate
Change Capital and member of the Prime
Minister’s Business Advisory Group
“The Energy Bill will finally give government
the tools to attract significant investment into
our power sector at least cost. Investment
can now flow - creating jobs, helping
recovery, spurring innovation - while ensuring
our long term economic competitiveness.”
www.climatechangecapital.com
Maria McCaffery, RenewableUK Chief
Executive
“This is a crucial announcement for the
renewable energy sector. The news that there
is rock solid support across Government
for renewable energy, and clear evidence
that Treasury and the Department of Energy
and Climate Change are in step, provide the
industry with exactly the kind of assurances
we’ve been calling for. This blows the last few
months of political infighting completely out of
the water.
“This is proof that the Treasury really does get
it – the renewable energy industry offers one of
our best hopes for economic recovery. This will
stimulate billions of pounds worth of investment
in renewables, creating more than 88,000 jobs
in wind, wave and tidal energy alone by 2021. It
will enable us to hit our 2020 renewable energy
targets, and make sure renewables can play
their part in protecting UK consumers from
unstable international power markets.
“The UK Government is sending a clear
message that 30% of our electricity will be from
renewable sources by 2020. The lion’s share
will come from wind energy, with 31 gigawatts
to be installed by the end of the decade.
“The Government also clearly understands
that renewables will be an important driver in
decarbonising our electricity supply by 2030.
That’s great news. This will give investors the
confidence they seek for the long term.
Those investors put £2.5 billion into the industry
this year – this will now increase exponentially.
Now it’s full steam ahead, so let’s get on with
it”.
www.renewable-uk.com
Alex Dawson, Chairman of Energi Coast,
North East England’s Renewables Group
“The Energy Bill will bring much needed clarity
to the offshore wind sector that will drive
investment and create opportunities for the
supply chain.
“The North East is already a key location for
offshore renewables activities with companies
successfully serving early projects in the sector.
Following the publishing of the Bill, momentum
will build in the market and the next stage of
projects will begin to come online with support
from our supply chain, which is poised and
ready to go.”
www.energicoast.co.uk
Department of Energy & Climate Change
“The commitment of the necessary budget for
the renewable power sector to meet its share
of the 2020 target, is very welcome news. This
should help to draw a line under the recent
politicking, which has been so damaging to
investor confidence.
“Today’s announcements finally give a
suggestion that the Government is getting
behind the renewables agenda, which
promises 400,000 green jobs across power,
heat and transport by 2020, along with a
much more secure energy future”
www.decc.gov.uk
Ben Caldecott, head of policy, Climate
Change Capital
“The £7.6bn financial commitment, together
with the creation of robust, new price-certain
contracts, are significant victories that have
created a framework for investment to flow.”
“As investors and investment advisors, we are
not unduly concerned about the current lack
of a decarbonisation target in the Energy Bill,
which is after all, meant to be implementing
robust targets already enshrined in law. There
is already a clear legal commitment to build a
cleaner, better energy system.”
“By including a government backed counterparty
for new contracts, investors will have
certainty allowing for a lower cost of capital and
a better deal for consumers.”
www.windenergynetwork.co.uk
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