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Ed Miliband, the United Kingdom’s secretary of energy and climate change, announced on Friday the government’s “clean power 2030” plan, which includes measures giving ministers final approval of large onshore wind farms.
The plan is part of an “ambitious” goal of reaching 95 percent green energy by the end of the decade, reported BBC News.
“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,” Miliband said in a government press release. “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.”
Miliband also wants the country’s energy regulator to have the power to tackle energy projects waiting to be hooked up to the National Grid, BBC News said.
The Labour government wants large onshore wind projects to be brought back into England’s Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project system, along with other energy infrastructure.
Labour’s plans would give the government the final word on the approval of wind projects bigger than 100 megawatts (MW), instead of putting local councils — which have frequently expressed opposition — in charge.
“We welcome the prospect of slashing red tape for grid connections, overturning the onshore wind ban in England and allowing more special offers to slash energy bills. Britain’s high energy prices stem from years of bad rules that don’t allow us to build renewable energy in the places it’s needed, or make use of cheap wind when it’s abundant, so these are positive steps,” said Greg Jackson, CEO of Octopus Energy, in the press release.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said Labour’s new proposals will generate 40 billion pounds annually in private sector funds, The Guardian reported.
The plan was welcomed by environmental groups, as well as the energy industry.
The announcement followed Tuesday’s signing of the last investment decision for the first carbon capture project in the UK at Teesside. Construction will begin in mid-2025, with the East Coast Cluster set to capture and sequester carbon emissions from the region’s industries.
Environmentalists urged the government not to invest in carbon capture projects in lieu of renewable energy development.
“Any money earmarked for carbon capture and storage – which is expensive, impossible to make zero carbon and fails to detach electricity prices from the volatile international gas market – would be better spent on the renewables, grid and storage infrastructure that will actually deliver clean power,” said Doug Parr, Greenpeace UK’s director of policy, as reported by The Guardian.
The release of the new action plan followed a National Energy System Operator (NESO) analysis of pathways to Labour’s 2030 goal provided to the Energy Department. NESO called the target a “huge challenge,” but “achievable,” PA Media reported.
UK ministers are looking to release the country from its fossil fuel dependence, which was made clear when Britain’s energy bills skyrocketed to record highs following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, reported The Guardian.
The UK government will begin a call for evidence for parking lot solar panel canopies in 2025. It said a significant number of solar panels could also potentially be installed on factory and warehouse roofs, with one-fifth of the largest warehouses in the UK providing as much as 15GW of solar capacity.
Low solar and wind power generation has forced the UK to lean heavily on the burning of wood and gas pellets. Roughly 65 percent of Britain’s electricity supply comes from gas and biomass, while just 5.3 percent is generated by wind.
“The winds of change are finally blowing in the right direction. But this roadmap must treble the amount of power generated by offshore wind and solar and double onshore wind, at least, if it’s to deliver the kind of ambition needed to turbocharge our way to a renewably powered future,” Parr said, as The Guardian reported.
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