Select committee: Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee
Conclusion 1
Eleventh Report - Decarbonisation of the power sector
Published 28 Apr 2023
Paragraph 24
Addressed to Department for Business and Trade
Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee Decarbonisation of the power sector All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
To deliver the Government’s target to decarbonise the power system by 2035, the UK needs to deploy low-carbon technologies at a faster rate than has been achieved historically. A whole host of regulatory and policy barriers continue to impede the deployment of clean technologies. The evidence submitted to our inquiry made clear that, at the current rate of policy delivery, the UK Government will miss its target to decarbonise power by 2035. While the Government’s “Powering Up Britain” plans outline a suite of actions that would help it get on track, its focus must now be an unrelenting drive to deliver them.
From: Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee, Eleventh Report - Decarbonisation of the power sector (HC 283), paragraph 24, 28 April 2023
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 14 July 2023 (deadline 28 June 2023).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government welcomes the Committee's report and responds to each recommendation, planning annual reporting on power sector decarbonisation while setting out where it will not adopt specific proposals.
- On the call for a long-term delivery plan, the government "plans to report on its delivery, and overall plan to deliver the commitment, on an annual basis", and is strengthening its portfolio management approach.
- On a UK-wide onshore wind target, it states that setting one "would potentially undermine the flexibility needed" across the UK.
- On biomass, it has "no plans to remove support prior to 2027" for stations already supported, saying they "have a statutory right to their existing support".
- On Ofgem's duties, it is "content to amend" Ofgem's existing duty on greenhouse gases to refer specifically to the net zero targets in the Climate Change Act 2008.