The Economic Affairs Committee Publishes Its New Report: ‘Investing in Energy: Price, Security and The Transition To Net Zero’

The Economic Affairs Committee has published its report ‘Investing in energy: price, security and the transition to net zero’ which our CEO, Phil Thompson contributed to.

The Committee identified a number of issues where action is needed now if the Government is to meet its objective to be net zero by 2050. Key recommendations for Government made by the Committee include:

• Design market models for low carbon technologies – such as long-duration storage, blue and green hydrogen, and carbon capture and storage – so as to make energy pricing more predictable.

• Include energy security objectives in the National Planning Policy Framework alongside the climate change objectives.

• Provide more detail on the capacity, timeframes and expected costs of long-duration energy storage and develop an appropriate market model. We heard that a cap and floor model would be most effective.

• Re-examine its ambitions for onshore wind and consider possibilities for promoting local acceptability where local communities can benefit from the additional energy generated.

Balance Power’s evidence supported the report’s finding that planning constraints and uncertainty in the planning process are some of the most significant barriers to new investment in low carbon energy infrastructure.

Read the full report by clicking here, and find Balance Power’s evidence on page 46.