New UK Strategy To Allow Greater Energy Independence
The UK has revealed its new British Energy Security Strategy which will accelerate the deployment of different energy sources like wind, new nuclear, solar, and hydrogen while supporting the production of domestic oil and gas. This strategy will also see a significant upgrade of nuclear energy capabilities, with up to 24GW by 2050 expected to come from this safe, clean, and reliable source of power. This would represent up to around 25 percent of the UK’s projected electricity demand.
A new government body, Great British Nuclear, will be set up immediately to fast-track new energy projects which are backed by substantial funding, and will launch the $155 million Future Nuclear Enabling Fund in April. The UK could deliver up to eight reactors, equivalent to one reactor a year instead of one a decade, thus accelerating nuclear power production in Britain. As for offshore wind, the UK has set a new ambition of up to 50GW by 2030, of which up to 5GW would be obtained from floating offshore wind in deeper seas. This will be underpinned by new planning reforms to cut the approval times for new offshore wind farms from 4 years to 1 year.
The UK government is also planning a licensing round for new North Sea oil and gas mining projects to be launched later this year, with a new task force providing bespoke support to new developments – recognizing the importance of these fuels to the transition and energy security, and that producing gas in the UK has a lower carbon footprint than imported gas which makes it more environment-friendly. A Heat Pump Investment Accelerator Competition will be run in 2022 worth up to $40 million to make British heat pumps, which will reduce demand for gas. UK’s current 14GW of solar capacity is also expected to grow up to 5 times by 2035.
“We’re setting out bold plans to scale up and accelerate affordable, clean, and secure energy made in Britain, for Britain – from new nuclear to offshore wind – in the decade ahead,” UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson said. “This will reduce our dependence on power sources exposed to volatile international prices we cannot control, so we can enjoy greater energy self-sufficiency with cheaper bills,” he added.
This plan is in response to rising global energy prices, caused by surging demand after the COVID-19 pandemic as well as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The main objective is to reduce Britain’s dependence on expensive fossil fuels, which are subject to volatile gas prices set by international markets, and boosting the country’s diverse sources of homegrown energy for greater energy security in the long term. The Government stated that the British Energy Security Strategy will increase the number of clean jobs in the UK by supporting 90,000 jobs in offshore wind, 10,000 jobs in solar power and 12,000 jobs in the UK hydrogen industry by 2030.
