UK energy deal triples renewable subsidy by 2020

British government support for low-carbon electricity generation will triple by 2020 after the energy and finance ministries reached a deal to end months of wrangling over costly reforms.

The move is expected to boost the share of renewables in Britain's energy mix to 30 percent by 2020, outpacing European Union targets of 20 percent, while creating tens of thousands of new jobs.

Energy Bill introduced to UK parliament

Described as a “once in a generation opportunity” to drive low-carbon economic growth by Energy Secretary, Ed Davey, the Energy Bill has been introduced to parliament today after repeated delays.

In a statement to the House of Commons, Davey said: “The Energy Bill will attract investment to bring about a transformation of our electricity market, moving from predominantly a fossil-fuel to a diverse low-carbon generation mix.”

Additional powers in UK Govt's draft Energy Bill

The Government plans to introduce additional powers in its draft Energy Bill to provide certainty about the details of energy regulation that investors are looking for, the Energy Secretary has announced.

Addressing senior industry figures at an event hosted by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), Ed Davey confirmed that a new version of the Bill would be published next month. An early draft (307-page / 1.9MB PDF), made available for 'pre-legislative scrutiny' in May, has been criticised by the industry for leaving much of the detail of the Government's flagship Electricity Market Reform (EMR) programme to be covered by later secondary legislation.