Leaving the European Union would damage investor confidence in UK renewables, according to University College London’s head of international energy and climate change policy.
Professor Michael Grubb said the leaders of the Leave campaign are “hostile” to renewable energy and the sector would be further damaged if the UK votes to leave the EU on 23 June.
“Renewable energy has been affected quite a lot by domestic policy but [the UK] would no longer have the collective points of contacts with those driving renewable energy policy in the EU,” he said.
Addressing the Energy and Climate Change select committee’s examination of the implications of the EU referendum, Grubb added there was little advantage in the UK negotiating an independent energy trade deal given its integration with EU gas and power networks.
“The UK would be in a weak negotiating position as we are a net energy importer,” he said.
The Centre for Policy Studies’ political and energy analyst Tony Lodge said the Climate Change Act, Carbon Price Floor and carbon budgets showed the UK is a low-carbon exemplar and being part of the EU is holding it back.
“These are domestic policies which have seen the UK leading on decarbonisation without the need for EU directives to push it along. That is something that the UK can be proud about.”
Lodge added the 12.4GW of coal and oil plant closed by the EU’s Large Combustion Plant Directive and 11GW expected to close by 2021 under the Industrial Emissions Directive had “destabilised” UK energy policy.
Chatham House energy research fellow Antony Froggatt said it was uncertain whether leaving the EU would necessarily result in the UK ditching the IED and LCPD.
Froggatt said post-Brexit priorities would be in other areas such as finance and migration and it could be several years before the UK could overturn these directives, if ever.
Image: Professor Michael Grubb (ECC select committee)
