Ed Miliband and Sir Keir Starmer plan to invest in renewables – and oil and gas – should they gain power
Ed Miliband and Sir Keir Starmer plan to invest in renewables – and oil and gas – should they gain power
The Labour Party will invest £500m in green hydrogen and £2.5bn in transitioning steel over 10 years should it return to power in July, according to its manifesto published today.
It has pledged to decarbonising industrial clusters in every corner of the country, with an additional investment of £1bn over the parliament. Labour describes Net Zero as the ‘economic opportunity of the 21st century’.
“With the right policies, it can also create hundreds of thousands of good jobs in the industries of the future in every region of this country and increase our energy security, weaning us off our reliance on fossil fuels and dictators like Putin,” it states.
Labour will allocate funding from the 2025-26 contract for difference auction round to provide capital grants to incentivise companies developing clean technologies such as offshore wind, onshore wind, solar, hydrogen, and carbon capture and storage (CCS). It has previously announced it will set up Great British Energy, a publicly owned clean energy company, to drive decarbonisation.
Under Labour’s plans, North Sea oil and gas will continue ‘for decades to come’ and it will not revoke licences – while at the same time, accelerate Net Zero investment across buildings, transport, industry, business and agriculture sectors.
Dr. Jon Hiscock, CEO of British power-engineering company Fundamentals, said Labour’s Local Power Plan, which aims to reduce pressures on the transmission grid, is essential to the future of energy security.
“But it will also have a significant impact on the electricity grid, so change needs to be carefully managed and planned to ensure supply is not interrupted,” he said.
“What’s needed now is careful consideration around the underlying infrastructure that will support the energy transition. The electricity grid is ageing but clever solutions can reinforce it and make the grid work harder. Technologies that increase network flexibility, such as voltage control, need to be used alongside targeted reinforcement of the grid to ensure the UK can better connect renewable energy sources and power the country for the future.”
Aniruddha Sharma, Chair and CEO of Carbon Clean, said the next Parliament will be a pivotal moment for the UK’s clean technology sector as it will ‘make or break’ whether we establish the UK clean tech supply chains, manufacturing facilities and infrastructure required to achieve Net Zero by 2050.
He said, “The UK risks being left behind the US, China and many European countries, which have already established themselves as leaders in the production of wind turbines, batteries, and solar technology.”
“Confusion and indecision has meant that the UK has ceded many of the competitive advantages it had a decade ago. CCUS is a high-growth area of clean tech where the UK is well positioned to take a leading global role.”
He added that a clear industrial strategy and consistent policy environment that incentivises private sector investment and a commitment to creating highly skilled jobs must be an economic priority for the incoming government.
“Labour’s plans, in particular the National Wealth Fund, have the potential to play an important role in achieving this,” he said.