Post: BEIS unveils UK energy security strategy

BEIS unveils UK energy security strategy

In light of rising global energy prices, provoked by surging demand after the pandemic as well as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the government has unveiled its long-awaited Energy Security Strategy.

Published on 7 April, the plan aims sets out how the government will accelerate the deployment of wind, solar, new nuclear and hydrogen, while supporting near-term production of domestic oil and gas, on a path to ensuring 95% of electricity by 2030 is low carbon.

Introducing the strategy Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, said:

Plans include:

• The strategy will see a significant acceleration of nuclear, with an ambition of up to 24GW by 2050. Subject to technology readiness from industry, Small Modular Reactors will form a key part of the nuclear project pipeline. A new government body, Great British Nuclear, will be set up immediately to bring forward new projects, backed by substantial funding, and we will launch the £120M Future Nuclear Enabling Fund later in April. The government will also work to progress a series of projects as soon as possible this decade, including Wylfa site in Anglesey. This could mean delivering up to eight reactors, equivalent to one reactor a year instead of one a decade, accelerating nuclear in Britain
• Offshore wind: A new ambition of up to 50GW by 2030 of which up to 5GW would be from floating offshore wind in deeper seas. This will be underpinned by new planning reforms to cut the approval times for new offshore wind farms from 4 years to 1 year and an overall streamlining, which will radically reduce the time it takes for new projects to reach construction
• Oil and gas: A licensing round for new North Sea oil and gas projects planned to launch in Autumn, with a new taskforce providing bespoke support to new developments – recognising the importance of these fuels to the transition and to our energy security, and that producing gas in the UK has a lower carbon footprint than imported from abroad
• Onshore wind: The government will consult on developing partnerships with a limited number of supportive communities who wish to host new onshore wind infrastructure in return for guaranteed lower energy bills
• Heat pump manufacturing: The government will run a Heat Pump Investment Accelerator Competition in 2022 worth up to £30M to make British heat pumps, which reduce demand for gas
• The government will also look to increase the UK’s current 14GW of solar capacity which could grow up to 5 times by 2035, consulting on the rules for solar projects, particularly on domestic and commercial rooftops
• Up to 10GW of low-carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030, with at least half coming from green hydrogen and utilising excess offshore wind power to bring down costs. This will not only provide cleaner energy for vital British industries to move away from expensive fossil fuels, but could also be used for cleaner power, transport and potentially heat
• Networks: The strategy further details plans for networks, storage and flexibility, with government noting that the UK’s modern system will prioritise anticipating need and hyper-flexibility in matching supply and demand, ensuring minimal energy is wasted, with a more efficient, locally-responsive system able to bring down costs by up to £10bn a year by 2050