Commenting on the raft of energy policy announcements made April 21 by the Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, RenewableUK CEO Tara Singh said:
'We agree with the Energy Secretary that the UK’s response to global gas price spikes should be to speed up the roll-out of homegrown renewables, coupled with rapid electrification, so that we can move faster towards energy independence.
'Dampening the link between gas prices and electricity bills will help to protect households and businesses from fossil fuel volatility in the long term, strengthening the UK's energy security.
'We will work constructively through the details of all the measures being announced by the Government, but we have to ensure that we take investors with us. At a time when Ministers are hoping to attract record levels of investment into renewables, uncertainty over changes to taxation needs to be clarified immediately so it does not drive up the cost of investment.
'Given this, we’re very keen to see new measures focused on increasing investor certainty and lowering costs ahead of the next clean power auction this summer. Maximising the amount of new clean power we secure in that auction will unlock the greatest benefits for billpayers, pushing the most expensive gas generators off the system and enabling the UK to move faster towards the electrification of heat and transport. We secured a record amount of offshore wind capacity in the last auction and double that amount is eligible to bid in this time, so we’re urging Ministers to remain ambitious and aim high in the months ahead'.
Source: RenewableUK
