As a general election looms next year, the Labour Party has outlined the five national missions with which it will build its manifesto, with one devoted to clean energy.
The mission is to make Britain a clean energy superpower, which Labour says will cut £1,400 off the annual household bill and £53bn off energy bills for businesses by 2030, deliver more than 1mn jobs over 10 years by rebuilding the strength of the UK’s industrial heartland sand coastal communities, deliver security through using the UK’s abundant natural resources and freeing the country from the influence of petrostates, and ensure climate security to protect the planet for future generations.
Targets include 55GW of offshore wind by 2030, fast-tracking at least 5GW of floating offshore wind, tripling solar power to 50GW, doubling onshore wind capacity to 35GW, getting new nuclear projects at Hinkley and Sizewell over the line, investing in carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and long-term energy storage, and doubling the government’s green hydrogen target to 10GW, with this used in flexible power generation, storage and industry especially.
Labour says it will do this by backing builders rather than blockers, including through overturning the effective ban on onshore wind in England, reforming the planning system through updates to National Planning Policy Statements and Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects, and tearing down all barriers to cheaper, cleaner power.
It will also establish a National Wealth Fund that will be tasked with investing in gigafactories, clean steel plants, renewable-ready ports, green hydrogen and energy storage; establish a new home-grown, publicly-owned champion in clean energy generation in the shape of GB Energy, with Labour pledging to set out its strategic remit and investment framework along with an initial portfolio of energy projects spread across new nuclear, local power and leading edge technologies; and reform the electricity market to ensure the cheap price of low carbon energy is passed over to consumers, while grid queues are unblocked to ensure capacity can be boosted.
A Warm Homes Plan is also central to Labour’s mission, with it assuring it will work with partners to develop a workforce and supply chain plan and support schemes where there is existing capacity and value for money, as is approving the next round of renewable projects in Contracts for Difference (CfD) auctioning. Labour will introduce a £500mn British Jobs Bonus every year, helping to funnel investment and create good jobs in industrial heartlands and coastal communities.
