energy

Ofgem unveils action plan to meet emissions target

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Britain’s energy regulator has called for radical changes to the country’s energy network in a new plan aimed at helping to decarbonise the grid to meet the government’s target of net zero emissions by 2050.

In its nine-point Decarbonisation Action Plan, Ofgem on Monday called for new measures to support the growth of renewables and the roll out of up to 10m electric vehicles, and proposed the establishment of a new regulatory fund to “unlock” investment in innovative solutions to tackle climate change.

The plan was published on Ofgem chief executive Jonathan Brearley’s first day in his new post. “Britain has . . . decarbonised faster than any other major economy, but we must go further, particularly on heat and transport. We are taking an approach that recognises that our role protecting consumers includes achieving net zero,” he said.

He added: “It is now vital that the energy industry rises to the challenge and demonstrates how it will work with the Government and Ofgem to decarbonise Britain’s energy system at lowest cost.”

The government said in December that it aims to achieve around 40GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030, up from the current 10GW.

Ofgem said it would support the development of an offshore grid to enable the increase by encouraging interconnectivity between offshore production plants, most of which are currently linked to the power grid on the mainland through undersea cables but do not connect to one another. The regulator said it would begin implementing these changes in the spring by aiming to identify and address any regulatory hurdles.

Ofgem added that it would also be publishing an electric vehicle strategy to address how the grid needs to evolve to meet increases in demand. Electric cars account for about 2 per cent of Britain’s current sale volume. But a significant rise is expected in coming years as carmakers jostle to meet new stringent emissions targets and vie for primacy in the market.

Motorway services operators and climate activists have criticised Britain’s electricity network as not being ready for the rollout of electric vehicles. Ofgem said it is examining ways to improve the flexibility of the grid which would allow greater charging. Among the measures to be evaluated are how electric-vehicle owners could sell excess power back to the grid during periods of peak demand, allowing them to reduce carbon emissions while saving money.

Ofgem was criticised last week by the National Audit Office, the government spending watchdog, which said customers could have saved a total of £800m on energy bills over nearly a decade if the regulator had used more up-to-date information to determine the level of returns electricity companies could make to investors.

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