A multi-million pound package has been announced to help support the “bold plans” of the UK government’s new energy strategy.
Business and Energy Minister Kwasi Kwarteng said the £375m investment would “unlock the enormous potential of hydrogen and nuclear power”.
But Labour’s shadow climate change and net zero secretary Ed Miliband said: “The UK can become a world leader in green technologies such as hydrogen, but only if our government will support our great British businesses and invest on a sizeable scale in the world. other governments everywhere.”
Give way
Labour criticised the energy strategy as “not enough” and “too little, too late” to help households with rising costs, hailing the financial support package today as a “reheat announcement” that “does not provide the decisive steps forward we need” .
The financial package announced on Friday includes £240m to fund low-carbon hydrogen production projects, £5m to accelerate carbon capture and storage (CCUS) technology, and a £2.5m competition for bidders to develop the UK’s advanced modular system . Reactor (AMR).
The day before, Prime Minister Boris Johnson tried to defend the new energy strategy in the face of criticism, but it is now doing little to help people with soaring bills.
He said the strategy, aimed at boosting new nuclear, offshore wind and hydrogen, was a long-term plan focused on energy supply, “undoing the mistakes of the past and making big decisions now”.
The government said the announced investment would support the research, development and deployment of “cutting edge technologies”, adding that it would also issue “a series of important documents and guidelines to support the development of these industries”.
Simultaneously, A generation Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has vetoed a plan to provide extra help to households with rising energy bills, newspapers reported. The paper said a leaked document showed he refused to increase his £200 energy rebate to £500 or more.
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A Treasury spokesman did not deny the report and said they “understand that people are grappling with the rising cost of living, which is why it is our top priority to put billions of pounds back into the pockets of hardworking families in the UK”.
The energy strategy was released on Thursday as Western nations battle high energy prices and consider how to reduce their reliance on Russian oil and gas, while calling for an end to the age of fossil fuels to tackle dangerous climate change.
A fleet of new nuclear power plants is at the heart of the strategy, with Johnson touting the plan in a social media video claiming “nuclear power comes home” and recommending the construction of a new reactor each year.
As part of a goal of decarbonising electricity by 95% by 2030, the strategy aims to produce up to 50GW of offshore wind energy by 2030, which officials say is enough to power every home in the UK.
The strategy also includes a goal of doubling the target of 10GW of low-carbon hydrogen production by 2030, at least half of which will come from “green” hydrogen, produced from renewable electricity rather than natural gas.
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Brendan Montague is the editor ecologist. This article is based on a copy provided by PA.
