Update |UK Did Green Day deliver?
The UK published dozens of updates on its plans for an economy that is ‘net zero’ in carbon emissions. But what did it achieve?, asks Janet Wood
The UK government dubbed 30 March ‘Green Day’ (aka ‘Energy Security Day’) and published more than 40 documents (over 2800 pages) – including sector strategies, consultations and analyses – on its energy and climate future. The day allowed the government to reveal its thinking across the economy and in specific tracks simultaneously. It was also a response to significant recent developments: a legal ruling last year that the government had failed in its duty to produce a Net Zero plan; the ongoing energy crisis that has followed the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and resulting energy price spikes; concerns over security of supply; and the need to respond to an independent review of Net Zero by one of the government’s own MPs, Chris Skidmore.
Skidmore concluded that climate change and Net Zero was the key industrial opportunity of the age and said the UK must respond to large-scale enabling and subsidy frameworks such as the USA’s Inflation Reduction Act and the EU’s Green Deal Industrial Plan, if it is to retain its place as a climate change leader and win industrial benefits. After the publication blizzard it was not clear that the government had produced a coherent holistic strategy that would fully respond to its critics. The energy industry and its supply chain was not satisfied that there was enough progress on a framework to deliver the low-carbon energy required, particularly in moving from strategy and consultation to delivery. Customer representatives, from industrial to domestic customers, had similar concerns. Nevertheless there was significant progress and welcome detail.
In an introduction to ‘Powering Up Britain’, a framework document, Grant Shapps MP, secretary of state in the recently formed Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (Desnz) focused on energy security, which he said was, “one of this government’s greatest priorities.” But he described energy security and net zero as “two sides of the same coin,” and said, “After decades of reliance on imported fossil fuels, the new department’s mission is to replace them with cheaper, cleaner, domestic sources of energy.” There was significant progress with regard to large power generation and for major users seeking to decarbonise and secure energy supplies.
Delivering new nuclear The industry has been waiting for details on ‘Great British Nuclear’, a new delivery body and funding route for new nuclear, for which a scoping document was completed last year. The government promised to recruit for the body immediately. It said the “first priority of GBN” – under an interim chair and chief executive – is
to launch a competition to select the best small modular reactor technologies. There will be a market engagement in April with the second phase launched in the summer and “an ambition to assess and decide on the leading technologies by autumn.”
The new organisation will be the route to co-fund the selected technologies through their development and ensure the right financing and site arrangements are in place. The government reiterated plans to take two Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) in the next parliament (ie 2024-2029), following on from a planned FID on Sizewell C in this parliament (ie by mid 2024). At present, new plants will be limited to existing nuclear sites. A revised planning framework is overdue (see below). The
government promised a proposed approach to siting new nuclear projects later this year, but consultation and parliamentary scrutiny mean a new framework would not be in place before 2025.
Carbon capture and storage and hydrogen
The government maintains that carbon capture and storage (CCS) forms part of the most cost-effective route to net zero, and represents a significant economic opportunity, with the potential to support up to 50 000 jobs and deliver £4-5 billion in exports by 2050. The UK’s ambition remains to build four operational CCS plants in industrial clusters by 2030 and to capture 20-30 Mt per year of carbon dioxide by
Top picture: Teesside, UK, location of the East Coast Cluster. Lower picture: site of Protos ERF, part of the HyNet Cluster, on the west coast of the UK
12 | April 2023|
www.modernpowersystems.com
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