Alex Atkins’ Post

🗞️ New government, new policies, new strategy… Sir Keir Starmer is the UK's new Prime Minister and here are some of the new government’s plans for UK energy’s future:  “The clean energy transition represents a huge opportunity to generate growth, tackle the cost-of-living crisis and make Britain energy independent once again.     Families and businesses will have lower bills for good, from a zero-carbon electricity system.     To deliver our clean power mission, Labour will work with the private sector to double onshore wind, triple solar power, and quadruple offshore wind by 2030. We will invest in carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and marine energy, and ensure we have the long-term energy storage our country needs. A new Energy Independence Act will establish the framework for Labour’s energy and climate policies.    British industry is also held back by high electricity costs, which has often made investing here uncompetitive. Labour’s clean energy mission will drive down those bills, making British businesses internationally competitive while our National Wealth Fund supports the most energy intensive sectors to decarbonise.    Labour will ensure the institutional framework for policy making reflects our commitments to reach net zero and meet our carbon budgets.     Labour will make the UK the green finance capital of the world, mandating UK-regulated financial institutions – including banks, asset managers, pension funds, and insurers – and FTSE 100 companies to develop and implement credible transition plans that align with the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement.” 📢 Are these plans the right priorities to achieve the UK's Net Zero targets?   👇Source: https://lnkd.in/ecrggyPV 

With only six weeks to go before the #generalelection, the direction of UK energy policy is going to be a crucial battleground for political parties After two years marred by an #energycrisis that rocked Europe, a worsening of the #climatecrisis, and an #energytransition that is still off track, the leading parties’ energy policies - and their effect on cost of living, inflation and the wider economy - will be under close scrutiny. Here is what the #oilandgas sector has been lobbying for, and how the main UK parties stack up in matters of energy policy, energy transition and climate change. with Iain Esau https://lnkd.in/dyVVy2-G

Today is a beautiful day in The UK. The electorate have spoken very loudly - they’ve voted for the values of fairness, compassion and progression, over the recent noise of cruelty, division and regression. It’s great to see the green agenda being positioned as economic opportunity - I would love to have seen more than £8.3bn going into Great British Energy, but hey, it’s a start! “To deliver our clean power mission, Labour will work with the private sector to double onshore wind, triple solar power, and quadruple offshore wind by 2030. We will invest in carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and marine energy, and ensure we have the long-term energy storage our country needs. We will not issue new licences to explore new fields because they will not take a penny off bills, cannot make us energy secure, and will only accelerate the worsening climate crisis. In addition, we will not grant new coal licences and will ban fracking for good.” Good read:

Congratulations to Rt Hon Ed Miliband on becoming Secretary of State for Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). As the climate crisis accelerates, the UK is a long way off track from finding solutions. We look forward to working with DESNZ to turn this around, and on Labour’s mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower. ⚡ Clean power by 2030 is a big challenge, but just the sort of ambition needed to beat the climate crisis and safeguard our energy bills against volatile gas price shocks. 📃 To meet Labour’s target of quadrupling offshore wind, more contracts for renewables are needed, and this is the most effective way to secure stable, low cost energy. 🔋 But renewables aren’t the only way forward. We need other low carbon forms of flexible power such as long term energy storage and more hydrogen power. A Covid style ‘vaccine task force’ approach would speed up deployment. 🔀 And, if the UK is going to lead the world in low carbon technologies and achieve independence, the government needs to adopt a strategy to ensure long term supplies of critical raw materials that prioritises demand reduction and circularity. Transport, buildings and industry also need to do much more to decarbonise. Our most recent policy tracker shows where the big gaps are. The good news is that an ambitious clean power mission will help. 💡 If DESNZ delivers its ambitious 2030 plan, it can achieve energy security and meet carbon reduction targets with clean energy. We and others will be working to drive forward government action with practical, ambitious solutions on this urgent agenda. (See our work on clean power and net zero in the comments below 👇)

🌍🔋 Exciting times ahead for Great British Energy and Scotland! 🏴 Labour's ambitious plans for a publicly owned energy company could revolutionise the UK's energy landscape, with Scotland playing a pivotal role. The potential for energy independence, driven by the Green Prosperity Plan, is enormous. Key Takeaways: Great British Energy: Aiming for net zero and energy security with a focus on carbon capture, hydrogen, and marine energy. Scotland's Role: Leveraging natural resources and skilled workforce to be at the forefront of this energy transition. Collaboration with Private Sector: Inspired by the US IRA, Labour seeks to double onshore wind, triple solar power, and quadruple offshore wind by 2030. Political Dynamics: While Labour's super majority offers momentum, cross-party support will be crucial for success. Hydrogen UK's Manifesto: Emphasises immediate actions for hydrogen progress, including funding, business models, and a dedicated hydrogen minister. The path to net zero is complex, but with the right strategies, we can achieve a greener future. 🌿💼 Read more: https://lnkd.in/e7dRFwDy #GreatBritishEnergy #NetZero #Scotland #HydrogenEnergy #GreenProsperityPlan #RenewableEnergy #EnergyTransition #ClimateAction 🌱🔋🌊

John Pettigrew National Grid not only need to invest in the network, there is also need to accelerate system design and regulatory changes so that more renewables can be connected rapidly and reliably. https://lnkd.in/e-9tEi9j This is an example of a National Grid innovation project which could help accelerate connections, reducing the need for substation reinforcement for fault levels. "The key benefits calculated are based on savings in reduced reinforcement and constraint costs and the estimated cost benefit of this project is significant and could reach around £1378m if the project is successful and the innovation method can be rolled out across GB." In terms of reliability it is critical that technical issues such as fault ride though requirements area addressed. https://lnkd.in/eqBkCqfK This is not glamorous, high profile investment in new assets, but delays on issues such as this lead to a risk of significant power outages similar to that which occurred in August 2019 which none of us want. https://lnkd.in/dFMps3p9

With UK Members of Parliament of all parties being sworn into the House of Commons today, collaboration between business, policymakers and regulators has never been more important for the energy transition. Transformation at the scale and pace of the new Government’s ambitions will require a genuine partnership that sees all of us working together.   With that in mind, here are four things the Government should prioritise to accelerate the pace of decarbonisation:  1. Set a clear strategy for the energy system, aligned to a long-term industrial strategy. 2. Accelerate clean energy infrastructure delivery through ambitious reforms on planning and grid connections. It was good to see the Chancellor take the first step on planning reform yesterday but more will be needed. 3. Partner with industry to build supply chain capacity and a skills pipeline. 4. Create the right governance and partnerships to drive net zero delivery, growth and jobs.   If we get this right, there will be huge opportunities for economic growth, jobs, security of supply and lower bills. At National Grid, we are already delivering the largest overhaul of the networks in generations, investing over £30bn in the UK’s energy future in the next 5 years.   I am looking forward to working with the new Secretary of State and the new UK government to continue to drive forward the UK’s energy transition.

In today's Kings Speech the creation of a new entity to invest in renewable energy, GB Energy, was confirmed. But do we need more investment or is it improved policy, planning and coordination that is required? As the CEO of National Grid highlights in this post, there are a number of reforms to be undertaken to boost renewable investment, grid capacity and facilitate the energy transition. Maybe GB Energy should focus on how we can facilitate and boost investment, rather than becoming an investor itself? Developing Partner Ecosystems to ensure stakeholders, industry and the community are all working together towards a common goal has succeeded in the gas sector. It's time to develop something similar for renewable energy and electricity transmission.

Clean energy investors will hardly be surprised by the election of a Labour government with a sizeable majority, as consistently predicted by the opinion polls, and will no doubt be eager to crack on with their investment plans under the new regime.     The new government has a mountain to climb, though, if it is to deliver on the highly ambitious commitments on climate and energy in Labour's manifesto. The most challenging of these - clean electricity by 2030 - would require doubling onshore wind, tripling solar power, and quadrupling offshore wind. This may not be practically achievable in such a short time, but getting close to clean power by 2030 is certainly possible with the right policies and institutional arrangements in place.     Some of the relevant actions - e.g., establishing and capitalising 'Great British Energy' to co-invest in clean power technologies - will necessarily take time. Others, such as lifting restrictions on onshore wind in England, could be done very quickly. But a trickier area is reforming planning regulations so that the electricity grid can be transformed to accommodate a near doubling in generation capacity, which may require legislation as well as changes in guidance. Absent reform, there is a real risk that local opposition to nationally significant infrastructure will seriously derail the government's power decarbonisation plans.   Let's hope the new ministers are ready to hit the ground running on planning reform and are successful in reducing planning barriers to clean energy investment. The prospects for energy users, and for our climate commitments, will depend upon it. #energy #cleanenergy #netzero #generalelection #Labourgovernment

The second of the new UK Government's five central missions for a better Britain is making Britain “a clean energy superpower” to cut bills, create jobs and deliver security with cheaper, zero-carbon electricity by 2030 - accelerating the UK"s trajectory towards reaching a legally bound target of #netzero carbon emissions by 2050. Battery storage will be key to the UK Government's ambitious #GreenEnergy plans in allowing a large buildout of renewables to take place without a wholesale—and time-consuming—upgrade of the grid. By storing excess energy until there is spare capacity on the electricity network, storage helps maximise limited grid availability. We examine the details of Labour's Green Energy Mission here: https://buff.ly/3S03G5F #EnergyStorage #NetZero #EnergyTransition