The UK, which saw itself at the forefront of the energy transition a few years ago, particularly with the rise of its offshore wind turbines, is on track to lag behind in producing “green” electricity, according to a study.
“Of the eight most developed economies, the UK is on track to have the lowest growth in low-carbon electricity generation by 2030,” at 2.9% per year, according to this study led by Oxford Economics in name of the industry organization Energy UK. This figure is lower than France (3.1%), Japan (3.2%), Germany (5.8%), the United States (6.4%), China (7.2%) and India (10, 6%).
lack of investment
The study attributes this slowdown to a lack of investment compared in particular to the United States, which voted the “Inflation Reduction Act” a year ago, promising to inject $370 billion into the energy transition, particularly for manufacturing. of batteries for electric cars or solar panels. For its part, the European Union has strengthened its own tax reduction measures for investments in zero-carbon technologies.
“There is a risk that ‘green’ infrastructure investment in the UK will be redirected to countries with more favorable tax regimes,” the study warns. Low carbon energy is a strong growth sector, but “unless the UK government makes investment in this sector in the UK more attractive, the 480,000 jobs expected from the energy transition by 2030 do not materialize”, concludes the study.
“disturbing slowness”
The pace of the UK’s energy transition is “worryingly slow”, lamented in June the CCC, the independent body tasked with advising Downing Street on the transition to carbon neutrality. He called on the government to take “bolder action and make the climate a priority again.” In particular, since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which put energy security back at the center of the political debate, green goals seem to be faltering in the United Kingdom, which was nonetheless one of the first developed countries to have adopted a goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.
In 2021, when the country was hosting the Cop26 climate conference, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson even vowed to make the UK the Saudi Arabia of wind power and laid out ambitious climate targets related to, for example, ending gasoline-powered vehicles. and diesel. His successor, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, on the other hand, recently promised “hundreds” of new licenses for oil and gas exploration and exploitation in the North Sea.
Another hurdle: Swedish power group Vattenfall last month halted development of a wind project off the UK coast, one of the country’s biggest, due to skyrocketing costs, dealing a heavy blow to British ambitions. in renewable energy.
Source: BFM TV
