UK to miss 2020 RE goals

Renewable electricity development in the UK is advancing well, but slow progress in other sectors means the country will miss 2020 renewables targets, according to a National Grid report.

The report – Future Energy Scenarios – concluded that even under its most optimistic scenario the UK will only consume 12% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, instead of the goal of 15% under the Renewable Energy Directive.

Renewable electricity is on the required trajectory to meet the target, with 34% of power expected to sourced from the sector. This is due to growth in wind, solar and bioenergy, the National Grid said.

However, the renewable heat and transport sectors are lagging behind.

The report said renewable heat would need to increase by about 60TWh from 2016 levels to meet the 2020 goal.

But, as the last four years has only seen an increase of less than 10TWh, the “pace of change needs to increase significantly”, National Grid said.

Transport would need to see a 25TWh increase over the current level of 14.5TWh to meet the 15% 2020 target, the report added.

Under the National Grid’s most optimistic scenario – Gone Green – the 15% target could be met in 2022, but it would take until 2029 under the report’s least hopeful scenario.

Scottish Renewables chief executive Niall Stuart said: “We have simply failed to grow renewables’ share of the energy used in heat and transport to the levels required, and we will not meet our climate change targets without massive changes in these two areas.

“The irony is that there are a huge number of renewable power projects which could provide cheap and clean electricity before 2020 and make up the shortfall from heat and transport.

“However, onshore wind and solar – the two cheapest forms of clean electricity generation – are unable to bid for long term contracts for power, and other technologies cannot access support until 2021 at the earliest.”

Institution of Mechanical Engineers head of energy and environment Jenifer Baxter said: “This confirms that the recent cut in renewable energy subsidies, as well as the lack of clear policy to encourage low-carbon technologies, has led to a drop in investment in renewable energy.

“The UK government needs to urgently clarify the country’s energy policies and regulations to provide developers with the certainty needed to invest in particular technologies, such as electricity storage.”

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