The long awaited energy white paper will now not be unveiled until next year, the secretary of state for BEIS (business, energy and industrial strategy) has revealed.
Andrea Leadsom told the BEIS select committee this afternoon (15 October) that the white paper, which her predecessor Greg Clark pledged to produce this summer, is due to appear in “Q1 2020”, while insisting that hitting the 2050 net-zero emissions target was her “first priority” in her new role.
She said that she was “absolutely optimistic” that the paper would finally be published in the first three months of next year.
It follows comments from energy and clean growth minister, Kwasi Kwarteng, reported by Utility Week last week that the document would appear “in late 2019 or early 2020”.
Operating to this revised timetable will allow the policy paper to reflect the conclusions of recently concluded consultations into CCUS (carbon, capture use and storage) and the RAB (regulated asset base) model for financing new nuclear power stations, Leadsom said.
She also said the three main sections of the white paper will be decarbonisation of the power, heat and transport sectors.
Leadsom, who was at the committee’s annual grilling of the BEIS secretary of state about the department’s work, also insisted the net-zero target was her “first priority”.
“The concern has been that the department has too many priorities so I am seeking to define absolute priorities, the first of which is delivering a path to net zero,” she said, adding that her “intention” was to set out a pathway to net zero by the end of next year when Glasgow is due to host the annual gathering of the UN’s COP climate change talks.
Leadsom responded to concerns voiced by MPs that there had been no mention of emissions reduction in the Queen’s Speech by saying that the government is “working at pace” to set out different “alternatives” to achieving net zero.
This would include CCUS, which she described as forming a “core part” of decarbonisation efforts, with work currently being carried out enabling the government to work out the contribution that the technology will make.
Leadsom said that marine power projects, such as the cancelled tidal lagoon project at Swansea Bay would “undoubtedly” be one of the “wide range” of innovative renewable technologies that BEIS is looking at as it prepares the white paper.
She also revealed that she has been holding discussions with chancellor of the exchequer Sajid Javid about setting up a post-Brexit replacement for the European Investment Bank, which has played an important role in helping to green energy projects to get off the ground in the UK.
Leadsom also said she had “no concerns” about the risk of potential interruptions to the UK’s gas interconnector supplies in the event of a no deal Brexit.
The BEIS committee’s chair Rachel Reeves urged the secretary of state to take on board its recommendations for meeting net zero, including bringing forward the proposed 2040 phase out date for banning the sale of internal combustion engine cars and vans.
Reeves said: “Unless we take these actions, we are not going to meet those net zero targets.”