Government unveils eight major new renewables projects, supporting 8,500 green jobs
23 Apr 2014 12:26 PM
Eight major renewable electricity projects are
unveiled as part of the government’s world leading electricity reforms,
giving a massive boost to green growth and green
jobs.
Eight major renewable electricity projects are unveiled
as part of the government’s world leading electricity reforms, giving a
massive boost to green growth and green jobs.
By
2020, the projects will provide up to £12 billion of private sector
investment, supporting 8,500 jobs, and they could add a further 4.5GW of
low-carbon electricity to Britain’s energy mix (or around 4% of
capacity), generating enough clean electricity to power over three million
homes.
Once built, the successful projects will contribute
around 15TWh or 14% of the renewable electricity we expect to come forward by
2020, helping to put the UK well on the way to meeting the UK’s renewable
energy target. They will also reduce emissions by 10 MtCO2 per year compared to
fossil fuel power generation.
The
projects have been offered under Contracts for Difference (CfD), which form
part of Government’s world leading Electricity Market Reform programme.
They include offshore wind farms, coal to biomass conversions and a dedicated
biomass plant with combined heat and power.
Energy and Climate Change Secretary Edward Davey
said:
“These contracts for major renewable electricity
projects mark a new stage in Britain’s green energy investment
boom.
“By themselves they will bring green jobs and
growth across the UK, but they are a significant part of our efforts to give
Britain cleaner and more secure energy.
“These are the first investments from our reforms
to build the world’s first low carbon electricity market - reforms which
will see competition and markets attract tens of billions of pounds of vital
energy investment whilst reducing the costs of clean energy to
consumers.
“Record levels of energy investment are at the
forefront of the Government’s infrastructure programme and are filling
the massive gap we inherited. It’s practical reforms like these that will
keep the lights on and tackle climate change, by giving investors more
certainty.”
There has been significant growth in renewable
electricity sector with the renewables’ share of total electricity
generation more than doubling since 2010. We are supporting this growth to
continue through Electricity Market Reform and expect to deliver over 30%
renewable electricity in 2020.
Today’s announcements, the first step in the new
EMR Contracts for Difference regime, will make a significant contribution
towards that ambition by, in 2020, delivering around 15TWh - that’s 5% of
total electricity generation - from today’s 8 projects
alone.
The
eight successful projects have been awarded contracts under the Final
Investment Decision (FID) Enabling for Renewables process, allocating the first
CfDs that are being introduced through the Electricity Market Reform programme.
Under CfDs, generators and developers receive a fixed strike price for the
electricity they produce for 15 years.
These contracts are vital to give investors the
confidence they need to pay the up-front costs of major new infrastructure
projects.
The
contracts are supported by the new legislative framework introduced through the
Energy Act 2013. Further CfDs will be made available in the autumn and the
Government intends to publish further details of the allocation process
alongside the Government Response to the January Consultation on Competitive
Allocation of CfDs shortly.
Together, the successful projects will help provide a
secure, affordable supply of electricity and support skilled jobs, boosting
growth, supply-chains and businesses across the country.