Alongside the Electricity Market Reform White Paper, the Government also published its Renewables Roadmap yesterday, which sets out how the UK will meet its target of generating 15% of its energy from renewables sources by 2020.

The Roadmap sets out to tackle the barriers to the deployment of renewables, which needs to increase four-fold by the end of the decade to reach the target.

“Growth on that kind of scale will be challenging, but will be necessary if we are to make the UK more energy secure, help protect consumers from fossil fuel price fluctuations, drive investment in new jobs and businesses,” Huhne told Parliament yesterday.

The Roadmap singles out eight technologies – including wind, biomass and heat pumps – that have the greatest potential to meet the 2020 target cost-effectively and sustainably.

The Government also promised up to £30 million over the next four years to help support technology development programmes focused on improving the efficiency and reducing the costs of offshore wind, adding to the £25 million from the Energy Technologies Institute for a new offshore wind test rig at the National Renewable Energy Centre (Narec).

A new industry-led task force will also be set up with the target of reducing offshore wind costs to £100/MWh by 2020, which could make it possible to achieve up to 18 GW by 2020 and a further 30-40 GW of offshore wind power.

For further information:
www.decc.gov.uk
www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/meeting_energy/renewable_ener/re_roadmap/re_roadmap.aspx

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