Budget: SSE boss urges Hunt to match green energy goals so UK can face down US competition
A leading energy boss has called on the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to clear the way for a “decade of delivery” on UK energy supplies, and face off the huge package of US green subsidies tempting companies Stateside.
SSE chief executive Alistair Philips-Davies called on the government to meet its energy ambitions and put words into action.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think we’ve had very clear policy from Government in terms of big targets and in terms of British energy security strategy but now we are into delivery mode. This has got to be a decade of delivery.
This follows Hunt announcing plans to invest £20bn into carbon capture and storage projects, alongside commitments to ramp up small, modular nuclear reactors with a bidding competition.
Hunt is looking to build on its energy security strategy, announced last year which includes a vast ramp up of offshore wind, solar, hydrogen and fossil fuel exploration.
The UK is facing competition for green energy projects from US and Europe – which are looking to lure renewable groups with slashed taxes and subsidies.
This proving to be a headache for Hunt’s fiscal policies – with the Chancellor already facing challenges over the windfall tax in the North Sea from firms pulling out of projects.
President Joe Biden last year unveiled the US Inflation Reduction Act- the largest ever environmental package which includes $368bn in green subsidies and taxes over the next decade.
Meanwhile, the European Union is pledging to loosen subsidies to enable member states to provide more state aid to companies considering a move Stateside.
Earlier this year, nascent green energy firms Sunfire and Zenobe told Morning Wire they are considering pivoting projects to the US, attracted by its subsidy regime.
At a green energy conference last month, Hunt described the new US subsidies as a “very real competitive threat” and announced the the government would respond in the “next few months”.
He said: “We are not hanging around on this. We need to give all those guys you saw at the conference a clear sense of how we are going to respond to the Inflation Reduction Act.”
Hunt warned it was not going to be easy for the UK to access the “GDP equivalent of $368bn,” to match the US spending commitments.
A government spokesperson said: “The UK is a world-leader in efforts to reach net zero and we have a laser-like focus on maintaining that position. Already we are decarbonising faster than any other G7 country, while low-carbon sources like renewables and nuclear provide half of our total UK energy generation.
“But we are also investing in the new technologies of the future, rapidly progressing developments in Carbon Capture and Storage, alongside being the first government in decades to invest in nuclear energy which will be critical to energy security and making energy more affordable.”