Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (): As the world faces the second fossil fuel shock in
less than five years, the lesson for Britain is that exposure to
volatile international fossil fuel markets cannot give us the
energy security we need. For Britain and many other countries,
clean energy is the only route to financial security, energy
security and national security. That is why today the government
is setting out how in response to this crisis we will double down
on our mission for clean energy.
First, we will speed up our drive for clean homegrown power that
we control. In less than two years we have secured enough clean,
homegrown power for the equivalent of 23 million homes through
two record-breaking renewables auctions, invested in the biggest
nuclear building programme in half a century, and broken down the
barriers in the way of building, from planning reform to fixing
the grid connections queue.
In response to this conflict, we have already announced that we
will bring our next renewables auction forward to July. Today we
go further. We will intensify efforts to build renewables on
public land with a cross-government sprint to identify
opportunities and actively bring projects forward. My department
will work hand in hand with public land - owners and managers -
like the Ministry of Defence, Network Rail and Forestry England,
as well as Great British Energy, to harness untapped public
assets, from railway warehouses to unused brownfield sites, to
significantly expand the pipeline of renewables. This could
unlock up to 10GW of capacity even using only a fraction of
government land, powering the equivalent of around 5 million
homes.
We will also step up our work to get critical clean energy
projects built across the board. This includes accelerating vital
grid infrastructure with a package of reforms from land access
rules to networks consenting, as well as plans to extend
permitted development rights and expand self-build for grid
connections.
Second, we are also accelerating our efforts to drive
electrification across the economy. We will support the British
people to access technologies like solar, batteries, heat pumps
and electric vehicles which can help shield them from fossil fuel
shocks—ensuring everyone not just the richest in our society can
see the benefits.
We will accelerate our £15 billion Warm Homes Plan wherever we
can to protect families before next winter. That starts today
with bringing forward £100 million of funding, in addition to
existing plans, as we upgrade tens of thousands more social homes
this year. We will also support families and small businesses who
use heating oil and LPG, who have been particularly exposed to
rising prices, by increasing heat pump grants available to them
to £9,000 this financial year.
Following our announcement that we will bring plug-in solar to
shops in the UK, we have earmarked £25 million with a view to
piloting support for low-income families for plug-in solar and a
vision of a house by house, street by street rollout. We will
make it easier than ever for families and businesses to adopt
these technologies, including removing barriers to on-street EV
charging, which will particularly help those living in flats and
those without a driveway.
Today we also announce that Great British Energy will put solar
on the roofs of 100 more schools and colleges, in addition to the
250 schools and 260 NHS sites already confirmed, to cut their
bills and save money that can be reinvested in public services.
Third, these measures come alongside decisive action to break the
link between gas and electricity prices, so families and
businesses see the benefits of the clean power we are building.
We have already moved from gas setting the price of electricity
around 90% of the time in the early 2020s, to around 60% today.
Thanks to our mission, we estimate gas will set the wholesale
price around half of the time by 2030. By building clean power we
are expanding the proportion of generation on long-term fixed
price contracts from around 20% today to over 60% by 2030, which
is crucial because for those generators it breaks the link with
volatile gas.
Today the Chancellor and I set out decisive action to go further.
From next year we will seek to transfer legacy low carbon
generators, which supply about a third of our power today, onto
fixed price contracts that deliver value for money for consumers.
This will be a voluntary decision for those generators. Alongside
this, the Chancellor has today announced changes to the
Electricity Generator Levy that will change the economic
incentives for generators to move onto these fixed contracts.
Together, these measures will accelerate the delinking of gas and
electricity prices: increased revenues mean we
can support businesses and households with the impacts of the
conflict in the Middle East on the cost of living.
Alongside these steps we are also publishing our Reformed
National Pricing Delivery Plan, which will ensure families
businesses benefit from a cheaper, more efficient energy system.
This package of measures represents a significant acceleration of
our mission to take back control of Britain's energy, so we can
protect the British people from this and future fossil fuel
shocks and bring down bills for good.
