UK renewables industry group REA said it is looking forward to working with Government to implement new renewables commitments after the EU Council voted on new renewable energy and greenhouse gas legislation on Thursday (23^rd October).  

image expired

Ahead of the vote, REA said that more ambitious targets would be needed for the 2030 energy and climate framework, and added that these would accelerate the move towards a renewable energy market that provides "low carbon energy without subsidy by 2030."

REA, which is part of the Action for Renewables campaign of green energy trade bodies in the UK, said the measures passed were lacking in ambition, compared to previous commitments to switch to 20 percent renewable energy by 2020.

EU Commission proposals to generate "at least 27%" of energy from renewable sources were passed, alongside commitments for a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and a 30% increase in energy efficiency.

Council leaders, including French president Francois Hollande, said the deal would send a strong message ahead of climate talks in Paris next year, but REA warned that the Council's agreement sent "a weaker market signal than the 20% renewables target in the 2020 framework, as the figure is not ambitious and the target is not binding on individual Member States."

Even so, the Action for Renewables campaign claimed the UK government had "fought hard for ambitious greenhouse gas targets in a difficult political environment."

REA maintains that almost all renewable technologies – across electricity, heat and transport – could be delivering cheaper energy than any other form of low carbon generation by 2030. Several could also become the cheapest forms of energy available, the Association believes, no longer requiring subsidy support, as both renewable and fossil energy sources currently do.

Having struck a deal in Europe, the renewables group said the UK government must set forth a clear vision for the country, as well as continuing to push for radical reform of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme to provide an effective carbon price that puts renewables on a level playing field with fossil fuels.

The government attracted the ire of farmers and the renewables industry last week when Defra secretary Liz Truss announced that farmers hosting large-scale solar installations would no longer be permitted to apply for subsidy funding on the fields containing solar panels. Critics branded the move a "politically motivated attack on a technology that commands around 80 per cent public support."

Speaking on Friday, Tony Juniper, Chair of Action for Renewables, said, "Now we have the EU 2030 framework in place it's time to work on delivery. Renewables are the only generation technologies that meet all of the goals we must pursue in parallel. They are genuinely low carbon, improve our energy security and [in the] long term bring down costs. Renewables also create jobs and enable ordinary people to invest in energy production.

"The UK is doing good work on pushing forward much-needed reforms to the EU ETS. But we now need to build on this good work and unlock the full potential of renewables for transforming our energy system in the 2020s."

Action for Renewables recommended a 30% 2030 renewable energy target for the UK and reform of the EU ETS as two of its six ‘key tests’ for the next government:

• Support the Climate Change Act to keep us on course to meet our carbon commitments and back global efforts to tackle climate change.
• Set a new renewables target for 2030 of 30% of UK energy
• Back the Independent Committee on Climate Change's recommendation to set a binding target for low carbon electricity by 2030.
• Fund the Renewable Heat Incentive for new applications after 2016.
• Boost the UK's Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation to reach the 10% renewable energy target for transport by 2020.
• Reform the EU Emissions Trading Scheme to ensure the market takes account of all sectors’ polluting cost of carbon emissions.

Ahead of the vote, REA Chief Executive Dr Nina Skorupska said, "People working in UK renewables simply don’t know whether the Government wants the industry to keep growing or not. There have been so many mixed signals this Parliament that it has become almost impossible for our members to plan and invest for their future. 2030 renewables targets for Member States will give businesses the certainty they need.

"If this doesn't happen, it will be up to the UK Government to set out its own vision for renewables in the 2020s and beyond. As renewables businesses are usually smaller and younger than fossil fuel and nuclear companies, a ‘technology neutral’ framework will leave them at a disadvantage. With clear market signals though, renewables will be the cheapest source of low carbon energy, without the need for subsidy, well before 2030."