UK energy strategy – live: PM promises ‘clean power’ while boosting fossil fuel drilling as full plan revealed

Strategy set to shun onshore wind power and clear way to increased oil and gas production

Johnson announces 'Energy Security Strategy' to bring cleaner, affordable power to UK

Boris Johnson has promised “clean, affordable, secure power” and to keep drilling for fossil fuels in the North Sea in plans to bolster UK energy independence and security.

The strategy – released on Thursday afternoon – pledges to boost production across a host of energy sources in the UK, including wind, solar, nuclear and hydrogen.

It also vows to give North Sea oil and gas fields a “new lease of life”.

Ahead of its full release, the government faced criticism for failing to slash energy demand in the first place, as well as household bills in the immediate term.

Kwasi Kwarteng, the UK business secretary, admitted it would do little to alleviate soaring fuels bills now, saying the strategy was more a “three-, four- or five-year answer”.

The strategy aims to bolster domestic energy security as rising international gas prices send UK household bills soaring, while the country is moving away from Russian fuel in light of the invasion of Ukraine.

Key Points

• PM promises clean energy and fossil fuel drilling in energy strategy
• Energy security strategy released in full
• Nuclear power at heart of energy security strategy
• Minister admits strategy won’t fix cost-of-living crisis now
• Plans will do nothing for bills or climate crisis, Labour says

[7 April 2022 13:14 · Maryam Zakir-Hussain]

‘Huge failure of public policy'

Bridget Woodman, deputy director of the Energy Policy Group at the University of Exeter, said the energy strategy has failed on all three counts of typical energy policy goals of “ensuring a secure supply, delivering affordable energy and reducing our emissions of carbon dioxide in the face of climate change”.

She said: “Exploiting new fossil fuel sources, whether in the North Sea or from fracking, is environmental madness if we want to meet our commitment to have net zero emissions by 2050.

“The failure to endorse onshore wind neglects the cheapest form of renewable energy, and ignores rational decision making about how to deliver low-cost, zero-carbon power at a time of rapidly rising bills and an increase in fuel poverty.

“Furthermore, the emphasis on new nuclear power will push up bills as we continue to have to subsidise an industry which has benefited from billions of pounds of public and consumer subsidy for over 70 years.

“The cheapest way of delivering lower emissions, while also ensuring a reduction in bills and carbon emissions, is to invest in energy efficiency. The repeated failure to come up with meaningful measures to help people reduce their energy demand and their bills is a huge failure of public policy.”

[7 April 2022 13:24 · Maryam Zakir-Hussain]

In response to the energy strategy, Simon McWhirter of UK Green Building Council said in a statement:

“Today was a chance to insulate the nation’s homes, protect us against future price hikes and tackle the painful effects of rising energy costs to households across the UK.

“This should have been the moment to show leadership and set out a comprehensive strategy to reduce energy demand. But despite the building industry standing ready to rise to the challenge, the Government has woefully missed its opportunity.

“In the week the world’s climate scientists name energy efficiency as one of the most significant lower-cost solutions to address the climate crisis, the Prime Minister hasn’t even got a plan to stop heat leaking out of the windows, walls and roofs of the UK’s 29 million homes.”

[7 April 2022 13:40 · Maryam Zakir-Hussain]

‘Westminster taking too long to deliver net-zero solutions’- Plaid Cymru

Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader, Liz Saville Roberts MP has criticised the UK Government for “taking too long to deliver the net-zero solutions to our climate and energy crises” while households are struggling with “crippling energy bills”.

Branding the plan a “half-baked strategy”, Ms Roberts said: “Today is a missed opportunity for the UK Government to back Wales by increasing our capital investment powers so that we can make the long-term investments that net-zero requires.

“Worse, a clear failure of the strategy is to address a main roadblock under Westminster’s remit to renewable energy development in Wales – grid capacity.

“Glossy Westminster announcements about energy supply mean nothing when the underlying energy infrastructure to connect renewable energy projects to homes and businesses simply doesn’t exist.

“Net-zero requires less Westminster spin and more hard work to deliver the gritty and expensive upgrading of our national grid to make it fit for the 21^st Century.”

[7 April 2022 13:45 · Zoe Tidman]

Energy Security Strategy released

The full strategy is finally out:

[7 April 2022 13:51 · Zoe Tidman]

Prime minister’s foreword: more clean power and more fossil fuel drilling

If you don’t have time to read the full thing, I’ll be providing a breakdown of the key points here.

Starting with the prime minister’s opening comments:

• “If we’re going to get prices down and keep them there for the long term, we need a flow of energy that is affordable, clean and above all secure.”
• “We need a power supply that’s made in Britain, for Britain – and that’s what this plan is all about.“

He vows to take advantage of renewable sources of energy, such as wind and sunshine, and also embrace hydrogen and nuclear energy. But he also says:

• “We’re going to make better use of the oil and gas in our own backyard by giving the energy fields of the North Sea a new lease of life.”

[7 April 2022 14:03 · Zoe Tidman]

BREAKING: UK energy strategy released in full with pledge to give North Sea oil and gas ‘new lease of life’

[7 April 2022 14:31 · Zoe Tidman]

Key points from strategy

Energy efficiency:

• Zero-rate VAT for next 5 years on the installation of energy saving materials
• Previously announced Boiler Upgrade Scheme - grants for low-carbon heating systems - launching next month

Oil and gas

• New licensing round for North Sea projects in autumn
• New organisation to offer support to ensure rapid development of projects

Offshore wind

• Action to slash time it takes to develop and deploy of offshore wind farms - currently up to 13 years
• Aiming to bring forward up to 5GW of floating offshore wind by 2030

Onshore wind

• No changes to planning regulations
• Launch consultation on partnerships with “limited number of supportive communities” who want local onshore wind

Solar

• Consultations on planning rules

Nuclear

• Increasing plans for up to 24GW capacity by 2050 – three times current levels
• Potentially eight new reactors in next series of projects

Hydrogen

• Doubling ambition to up to 10GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030
• Aim for annual allocation rounds for electrolytic hydrogen

[7 April 2022 14:40 · Zoe Tidman]

‘Clean energy independent’ - Kwarteng

The UK’s business secretary says the strategy is a “long-term plan” to become “clean energy independent”.

See here:

[7 April 2022 14:45 · Zoe Tidman]

Why is the UK launching the strategy?

Energy prices had already been soaring in the UK as a result of a volatile gas market. And then, Russia - where the UK imports oil and gas from - invaded Ukraine.

All this has played into the UK’s push for greater domestic energy security.

As the strategy says:

“As the global economy reopened in the aftermath of the pandemic, the sudden surge in demand for everything from new cars to foreign holidays drove a massive spike in demand for oil and gas, dramatically increasing the price of these essential fuels.

“This has been compounded by Russia’s abhorrent and illegal invasion of Ukraine. As we are part of a global market, the price we pay for gas is set internationally. And President Putin has used this against us by restricting the supply of Russian gas to the European market, further pushing up prices.”

The UK has also vowed to phase out Russian oil by the end of the year in response to the invasion:

[7 April 2022 14:52 · Zoe Tidman]

What about net zero?

The energy security strategy argues more fossil fuel drilling in North Sea will not necessarily derail the UK’s committment to get to net-zero emissions by 2050.

It says:

“Net zero is a smooth transition, not an immediate extinction, for oil and gas.”

Last year, a leading international energy body said there was no place for new fossil fuels if the world wanted to reach net zero by 2050.

We reported on this warning at the time: