BWEA submission to energy review II

BWEA is calling on Government to take action in five specific areas:

• To turn its current ‘aspiration’ for 20% of electricity supply from renewables by 2020, into a firm Government target. This is essential to provide strong long-term investment signals and to maintain confidence in the sector

• To extend the Renewables Obligation to 20% by 2020 to provide the additional financial resources to deliver the 20% target. Extending the Renewables Obligation from its current top level of 15.4% in 2015 would increase its overall cost in 2020 from £1.9bn/yr to £2.5bn/yr, based on today’s prices. For an average domestic consumer, this would mean an extra £8/year on top of the existing commitment of about £20/year for the 15.4% Obligation, or an additional rise of about 2% on top of the 6% pre-committed rise on a typical household bill of £400/year.

• To immediately resolve policy issues on offshore wind and marine renewables to ensure they are deployed en masse to meet more than half of the 20% by 2020 target. This may require either additional Government financing outside of the RO or an evolution of the RO to direct additional resources to these key technologies

• To maintain a robust and positive planning framework throughout the UK and take action on current delays in decision making which are in danger of compromising the role of onshore wind in meeting Government's renewable energy targets. A combination of financial and policy mechanisms and communication initiatives should be introduced to incentivise prompt decision making at both the national and local level

• To progress with breaking down non-economic barriers, in particular the grid bottleneck which must be resolved in time to allow onshore wind to deliver the shorter term 2010 target, and all the marine renewables to deliver on longer term xobjectives in 2020.


BWEA believes that maintaining wind’s good progress onshore and delivering on our vast offshore renewable potential will be a key test of the Government’s resolve to set the UK on the path to a low-carbon future. If no extra resources are provided for offshore wind, wave and tidal power or the RO is not evolved to direct more resources to them, these essential technologies will not be delivered in the quantities required and we will fall well short of our 20% by 2020 potential.

BWEA CEO Marcus Rand said: “Malcolm Wicks, when he launched this Review, made clear he wanted evidence not opinions on our energy options. This is the most extensive piece of work undertaken on the deliverability of wind and marine renewables and should provide him and the Prime Minister with the confidence to commit this nation to generating at least a fifth of our power needs from renewables by 2020. The arguments for doing so are compelling; huge public support, significant carbon reduction, increased energy security, and affordable power delivered quickly by a dynamic and innovative industry ready and willing to deliver.”

BWEA’s full submission including all the research undertaken by the Association can be found at www.bwea.com/energyreview.