The Treasury’s Strategy includes the Green Investment Bank (which would be the world’s first), with initial government investment of £1 billion from the sale of other infrastructure assets and an additional £1 billion equity to be leveraged from the private sector. “The fund will focus first on investing in green transport and sustainable energy, in particular offshore wind power,” said UK Chancellor, Alistair Darling, announcing the initiative during his 2010 budget speech. “We are offering £60 million to develop ports looking to host manufacturers of offshore wind turbines,” he added.
Meanwhile, the current Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Miliband, said to delegates at the recently held European Future Energy Forum (EFEF): “this Budget will help propel the UK further and faster towards the green industries of the future. The green investment bank, new support for wind turbine manufacturing sites and the first findings of our work to reform the energy market are all critical. Jobs, growth, energy security and the fight against climate change are all winners.”
Conservative Shadow Energy and Climate Change Minister, Greg Clark, meanwhile said: “The announcement in the Budget of a Green Investment Bank is welcome - it is an idea that the Conservatives first proposed last year. With so much of our generating capacity and energy infrastructure in need of replacement – and the global race to develop new energy technologies so important to our future prosperity – it is vital that we secure the finance to create an energy system fit for the 21st century. The Green Investment Bank should consolidate the existing disparate sources of public investment and leverage in external investment, to help us to generate green growth by winning a greater share of the rapidly growing market for green goods and services”.
Liberal Democrat Shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Simon Hughes, also took the opportunity to announce his party’s support for the green bank at the recent EFEF, saying that it is a good idea, but warning that “it is vital that the Government is active in stimulating investment in our energy infrastructure”.
With agreement on the scale of low carbon energy and transportation infrastructure needed in the UK, renewable energy looks set to grow significantly. What remains to be seen is who will be in Government to set the policy, the priorities and control the purse strings.
The European Future Energy Forum looks set to be the first showcase of the UK Government post-election of their renewable energy plans and policy. Held 19-21 October at ExCeL, London in association with the UKTI, the forum will be the UK’s largest gathering of international renewable energy manufacturers, investors and service providers. It will also be an opportunity for energy ministers and heads of state from around the world to share a platform with the new UK government to debate policy, financing and infrastructure required to ensure energy security and sustainability in the Future of Energy within Europe.
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