As part of its Industrial Strategy, the UK government has published the Clean Energy Industries Plan to “unleash the tidal wave of jobs and investment” that the energy transition will bring.
The plan also commits the government to double investment in clean energy industries.
The government’s strategy is broken into eight sectors which the government said are already strong and therefore should have the potential for faster growth.
Within the Clean Energy Industries Plan, the government identifies ‘frontier’ industries that it will focus on: onshore, offshore and floating wind, nuclear fission, fusion energy, carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) including greenhouse gas removals (GGRs), hydrogen and heat pumps.
Nonetheless, much of the announced investment will benefit the whole clean energy ecosystem.
The government does add that solar, bioenergy, storage including Long Duration Energy Storage, heat networks, and smart technologies are “also vital” for the clean energy mission but are not among the frontier industries.
Another of the identified ‘growth-driving’ sectors, Advanced Manufacturing, includes batteries alongside areas such as aerospace and automotive.
State-owned energy company Great British Energy has been allotted a further £700 million to help build manufacturing facilities here at home for key components for the clean power revolution, like floating offshore platforms, electric cables and hydrogen infrastructure.
Energy secretary Ed Miliband said: “For too long high electricity costs have held back British businesses, as a result of our reliance on gas sold on volatile international markets.”
Skills and speeding the planning process
UK prime minister Keir Starmer said the strategy marks “a turning point” for the economy, delivering “long term certainty and direction” for British businesses to invest and create jobs.
The Industrial Strategy states that the government will spend an additional £1.2 billion annually on skills by 2028-29 and deliver more learning opportunities in high-growth sectors through the Growth and Skills Levy.
This will include recruitment of 300 new planning officers to improve the responsiveness of planning departments—the training given to local planning authorities was highlighted by Solar Media Market Research analyst Josh Cornes in a recent article on Solar Power Portal.
Responding to the Industrial Strategy, Gemma Grimes, director of policy and delivery for solar trade association Solar Energy UK, said: “Planning departments have been chronically under-resourced, which has led to both delays and inconsistent decision-making, contributing to legal challenges. So bolstering the number of officers, as promised when the National Planning Policy Framework was launched late last year, is most welcome.”
The government’s strategy also states that the Office for Clean Energy Jobs will publish a Workforce Strategy later this year.
To give greater confidence in what the government calls “high priority developments”, giving solar farms and data centres as examples, there will be a new 13-week target for planning decisions on applications called in by ministers.
Grid connections sped for ‘major investment projects’
The government described slow grid connections as one of the biggest barriers facing UK industry.
The Industrial Plan also includes a plan to streamline grid connections for major investment projects, called the Connections Accelerator Service, that would prioritise connections for projects that create high-quality jobs and deliver significant economic benefits.
It is unclear how this ties in with plans from the National Energy System Operator (NESO) to reform the connections process.
New powers in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which is currently before parliament, could also allow the government to reserve grid capacity for strategically important projects.
More coverage of the Industrial Strategy is available on our sister site, Current±.
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