The Department of Energy & Climate Change is to launch a consultation in spring 2016 on plans announced today to close all unabated coal-fired power stations by 2025 and restrict use from 2023.
The proposals are the centrepiece of Energy Secretary Amber Rudd’s so-called energy policy ‘reset’ speech to be made at London’s Institution of Civil Engineers at 10.30am.
Excerpts of the speech have been made public by DECC. Rudd will say: “It cannot be satisfactory for an advanced economy like the UK to be relying on polluting, carbon intensive 50-year-old coal-fired power stations.
“Let me be clear: this is not the future. We are tackling a legacy of under-investment and ageing power stations which we need to replace with alternatives that are reliable, good value for money, and help to reduce our emissions.”
DECC’s advance briefings of the speech made no mention of renewables support but industry sources suggested draft versions of the speech were positive for offshore wind.
“It’s pretty high level with some concessions around post-2020 support for offshore, but it could all have been written out of the final draft,” said a political insider.
The onshore wind and solar industries hoping for visibility of support beyond the current situation are set to be disappointed, added the source. “It’s good news for the technology the government likes and bad news for those it doesn’t,” he said.
Image: Amber Rudd (DECC)
