Families will not see lower energy bills for three years from a plan launched today to end dependence on foreign oil and gas, ministers acknowledge.
Boris Johnson said the government’s energy security strategy would end “blackmail” by autocrats such as President Putin while protecting households against global price increases by generating more power in this country.
Experts praised the ambition for a huge acceleration in green electricity, but criticised the absence of energy efficiency measures that would cut bills faster after the Treasury vetoed more spending on insulation and other home improvements.
Planning law will be changed to allow more solar panels on roofs and fields while approval for offshore wind farms will be cut to one year, compared with up to ten currently, the strategy says.
However, Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, had to retreat from ambitions of tripling onshore wind capacity to 30GW because it was too politically controversial among Tory MPs.
The prime minister said there would be a “very high bar” for new wind farms onshore, saying: “People feel that they affect the beauty of the countryside, I totally understand that.”
After weeks of wrangling, Johnson and Kwarteng overcame Rishi Sunak’s reluctance to fund more nuclear energy, with up to eight new plants to be built by 2050 to produce a quarter of the country’s power.
“We’re bringing nuclear home, with one nuclear plant, one nuclear reactor, every year for eight years, rather than one a decade,” Johnson said.
“This is about tackling some of the mistakes of the past and making sure that we are set well for the future, we are never again subject to the vagaries of the global oil or gas price, we can’t be subject to blackmail from people such as Vladimir Putin and we have energy security here in the UK.”
Johnson said the plan was a “massively green strategy” that would mean 95 per cent of electricity would be low-carbon by 2030 and there would be enough offshore wind to power every home. Officials stressed the goal was longer-term energy independence, with the chancellor’s rebate package in place for short-term pressures. Government sources denied that streamlining planning for power plants, big solar arrays and offshore wind farms would damage environmental protections.
“This is not watering down public consent. The single biggest barrier is government and it’s about the bureaucratic and burdensome approval system,” they said. “When gas prices increase by 500 per cent it naturally focuses the mind on what more government can do.”
Kwarteng said that “nobody can guarantee” the effect on prices but “the impact could be very soon”. Asked by Times Radio when families would see an effect on bills, he said: “By soon, I mean, three or four years. It’s much cheaper to generate offshore wind today than it was even just five years ago. So some of these benefits can happen quite quickly. But we need to start the planning process and the strategy now.”
Labour accused the government of failing to deal with a cost of living crisis. Ed Miliband, the shadow climate change secretary, said: “Kwarteng wanted to double onshore wind. He’s now backed off, not because of a change of mind about energy policy, but because Boris Johnson is essentially too weak to overcome his backbenchers.”
‘Cheaper, greener power’ made in UK
After weeks of Whitehall wrangling over costs, a 7,500-word energy security strategy was finally published today, aiming to make Britain energy independent (Chris Smyth and Ben Webster write). Boris Johnson said the UK had “drifted into dependence on foreign sources” through years of “policy fudges, decision-dodging and short-term thinking”. The plan, he said, promised cheaper, greener power “made in Britain” that protected consumers from the vagaries of global supply and the whims of foreign dictators.
NUCLEAR
Johnson boasted of “bringing nuclear home” with an ambition to approve eight new reactors in the next decade and ensure a quarter of our energy comes from nuclear power by 2050.
The prime minister’s desire to triple nuclear capacity led to repeated delays in the strategy as he battled Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, over the cost of one of the more expensive forms of energy.
With a final decision on a Sizewell C plant already expected in this parliament, the goal of two further approvals in the next parliament does not commit the chancellor to finding any more cash until the next spending review.
Great British Nuclear is being created as a new government vehicle to usher projects to completion, with a new reactor at Wylfa on Anglesey in Wales expected to be among the first decisions. The eight projects are expected to be split between traditional big reactors and newer, small modular reactors yet to be used commercially.
ONSHORE WIND
Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, lost a battle with cabinet colleagues over relaxing planning rules to at least double onshore wind by 2030. The strategy states: “We will not introduce wholesale changes to current planning regulations for onshore wind.”.
Onshore turbines are one of the quickest and cheapest ways of increasing power supply and government surveys show that about three quarters of people support them.
However, rules brought in in 2015 prevent wind turbines from being built in England unless the local community wants them. The strategy sets no target for onshore wind, instead saying there will be consultation this year on “developing local partnerships for a limited number of supportive communities who wish to host new onshore wind infrastructure in return for benefits”. The hope is this will mean discounts of 20-50 per cent.
Michael Grubb, professor of energy and climate change at University College London, said the government’s failure to support onshore wind was a “cowardly failure”.
OFFSHORE WIND
The strategy sets an “ambition” of 50 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind by 2030, up from about 10GW now and an advance on the previous target for the end of the decade of 40GW. It also commits to accelerate the planning process to more than halve the time it takes (up to 13 years) to deliver offshore wind farms. The requirement to assess the impact on wildlife habitat will be reviewed to reduce “reams of paperwork”.
Officials say offshore wind will be the “workhorse” of Britain’s future energy production, with enough capacity to power every home in Britain.
SOLAR
The government wants a fourfold increase in solar capacity to 70GW by 2035, up from 14GW now.
This will come from encouraging panels on roofs and fields, with a “radically simplified” planning process for solar on homes and a “presumption” that new buildings will have solar panels or other forms of renewable energy.
OIL AND GAS
For all the lofty ambitions on green energy, the strategy acknowledges that even by 2050 we will still be using significant amounts of gas. “Gas is currently the glue that holds our electricity system together and it will be an important transition fuel,” it acknowledges.
To reduce dependence on imports, Johnson wants more oil and gas extracted from UK reserves in the North Sea and more licences issued to get “more domestic gas on the grid sooner”.
Carbon capture and storage is already being piloted as a way to minimise emissions from gas-fired power plants in the future, although this is yet to be shown to be feasible.
The strategy also promises to be “open-minded” about fracking, with a review by the British Geological Survey into the impact of shale gas extraction. Fracking is backed by some Tory MPs but has been halted because of environmental and safety fears.
HYDROGEN
The most abundant chemical element in the universe, hydrogen has long been an appealing green alternative. The strategy promises to double hydrogen production goals to 10GW by 2030 through both “green” methods of releasing it from water, as well as “blue” hydrogen extracted from gas.
The strategy sets out goals to develop business models for production and storage. Ministers will decide by the middle of the decade whether hydrogen is safe to heat homes. It could power a third of boilers by 2050.
HELP WITH BILLS AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY
Sensitive to the charge that the strategy offers little to households struggling with steep energy price rises, the document opens with a defence of the government’s existing £9 billion package of rebates and loans. Officials insist the plan was never designed to offer short-term help but to protect consumers from the next global price shock.
But one of the biggest omissions from the strategy is anything new on energy efficiency, the quickest way to reduce demand. Last month’s spring statement cut VAT on home insulation and heat pumps but the chancellor vetoed any more spending on immediate home improvement measures.
Mike Thompson of the Climate Change Committee said it was “disappointing not to see more on energy efficiency and on supporting households to make changes that can cut their energy bills now”.
PLANNING
Underpinning the ambitious goals in the strategy is the assumption that the planning process can be speeded up radically. Officials also hope to make decisions about the balance between environment and development earlier in the process to guide local planning authorities.
Rain Newton-Smith, chief economist of the CBI, said: “Commitment to planning reforms and rapid approvals is what will really make the difference now.”
