Government to Unveil Clean Power Action Plan

Government to Unveil Clean Power Action Plan

The Secretary of State for Energy Security Ed Miliband has unveiled plans to speed up planning decisions on energy projects and boost investment into renewables. The strategy will form the cornerstone of the government's Clean Power Action Plan, released later today.

The government said that the plans represent “the most ambitious reforms to the country’s energy system in a generation, to make Britain energy secure, protect households from energy price spikes, reindustrialise the country with thousands of skilled jobs, and tackle the climate crisis.”

Alongside planning reforms, the range of measures will seek to expand energy storage, increase flexibility and address the backlog of projects wanting to connect to the grid.

One of the primary polices is that the government (as opposed to councils) will now have the final say on wind farm projects larger than 100MW. It is hoped that this will enable to government to streamline green energy projects as the target of achieving at least 95% clean power by 2030 grows ever closer.

This drive to expedite planning comes as the BBC cites that there has seen a 94% decline in new wind projects since 2015. Such a dramatic decline has been attributed to Cameron era legislation which led to a de facto ban on onshore wind.

According to the government, these reforms will “unleash £40 billion a year of mainly private investment in homegrown clean power projects and infrastructure across the country, creating good jobs across the country.”

Attention turns to the full release of the Clean Power Action Plan later today.

Across the Atlantic…

President Elect Donald Trump has given his latest indication that his administration will proceed with cutting red tape in a bid to attract investment. 

Writing on Truth Social, the soon-to-be president decreed that “Any person or company investing ONE BILLION DOLLARS, OR MORE, in the United States of America, will receive fully expedited approvals and permits, including, but in no way limited to, all Environmental approvals. GET READY TO ROCK!!!”

The statement comes alongside Trump signalling that he will deregulate planning processes for large scale energy projects - particularly in the oil and gas sector. 

As per the National Environmental Policy Act, the federal government must perform environmental assessments before giving the green light for large scale energy projects. 

While proponents argue that this helps to ensure energy infrastructure projects align with the environmental policies and protections, critics including Trump maintain that the process is overly cumbersome and hinders investment. 

Offshore drilling, regulation covering carbon emissions and air pollution now appear to be in Trump’s line of sit and he repeatedly remarked “Drill, baby, drill” during the campaign trail, indicative of what commentators are calling his "all of the above" energy policy.

During his first term, Trump of course pulled the US out of the Paris Climate Accords and repealed a series of green acts that looked to protect the environment. According to analysis from the New York Times for instance, during Trump’s first term he rolled back as many as 112 environmental rules, while weakening or partially unwinding others.

With little clarity after his post on Truth Social, analysts are continuing to monitor the President Elects' statements to gain any further insight.