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RAB says UK's proposed renewable energy target is achievable

DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, ENTERPRISE AND REGULATORY REFORM News Release (2008/115) issued by The Government News Network on 18 June 2008

The Renewables Advisory Board has reported that the UK could generate 14% of its total energy from renewables by 2020 if a set of identified radical policy changes are put into effect quickly. Recommendations include accelerating grid studies, streamlined consenting processes, early introduction of revised support mechanisms and, most importantly, strong political leadership.

The Board has also advised the Government how the additional measures could go on to achieve the full 15% share required by the EU's renewable energy target.

In order to do this, experts in four sectors (bulk electricity, bulk heat, built environment and transport) were each asked to predict what could be delivered by 2020 with significant but achievable policy change. In total, the expert groups felt able to forecast bulk electricity could provide 7.1%; bulk heat could provide 0.9%; built environment 3.3%; and transport at 2.7%.

With a further 1% remaining, the report sets out three possible options but stressed that delivery of each will present further challenges to meet the ambitious proposed target.

* Installation of the Severn Barrage, half of which would count towards the 2020 target provided construction begins before 2016.

* A further 6GW of wind power, mostly offshore, bringing the total offshore capacity to about 24GW.

* A further 30% increase in energy production from renewables in the built environment sector. This would need to be retrofitted to existing stock, and would probably require installation of district-wide heat networks.

The report concludes that the 2020 target of 15% UK energy from renewables is achievable, but that rapid development of a transformed energy framework with radically new economic, political and social drivers is necessary. RAB also identified that renewables must be at the heart of energy policy and that many new policies are required and some, urgently.

Alan Moore, Co-Chairman of RAB said:

"If the 15% target is to be approached we need to establish a different energy world. Many of these changes will need to be radical and will require, above all else, political leadership and a determination to succeed.

"Industry and commerce themselves stand ready to deliver but, as ever in the renewables industry, the greatest investment risk is seen as political risk. Investors need to be confident that government is determined to achieve its own targets."

Commenting on the report, Secretary of State for Energy, John Hutton said:

"We are already taking active steps on how we are going to achieve our proposed share of the EU renewable energy target. There is great momentum in this field at the moment; we will soon be the world leader in offshore wind and we are pioneers in marine energy.

"We've seen millions of pounds of investment in renewables and through the Energy Bill we are proposing changes to the support available to make the UK the premier place to invest in this growing industry.

"We have always said 15% is ambitious but we remain fully committed to hitting this target. We will launch a consultation this Summer and then publish how we plan to boost the current level of renewables in Spring next year"

Notes for Editors:

1. The Renewables Advisory Board (RAB) provides advice to Government on a wide range of renewable energy issues. The board is an independent, non-departmental public body sponsored by the UK Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), that brings together government departments, financial institutions, academia, the renewables industry and the unions.

2. It aims to provide the Secretary of State with independent, impartial and authoritative advice on policies, programmes and measures, to improve Government understanding of the obstacles and opportunities for the development and deployment of renewable technologies in the UK, both in the short-term and over the next 20 years, and make specific recommendations.

3. Following the proposal in the draft European Commission Directive on Renewable Energy (January 2008) that the UK must increase its energy use from renewables to 15% by 2020, against its current base of around 2%, the Secretary of State at BERR tasked RAB to investigate if and how that target is achievable.

4. A copy of RAB's '2020 Vision' is available for download from the RAB website http://www.renewables-advisory-board.org.uk

5. The Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform helps UK business succeed in an increasingly competitive world. It promotes business growth and a strong enterprise economy, leads the better regulation agenda and champions free and fair markets. It is the shareholder in a number of Government-owned assets and it works to secure, clean and competitively priced energy supplies.