Kwarteng defends plans for decarbonisation of power sector

Newly promoted energy secretary  Kwasi Kwarteng has said the government will legislate this summer to adopt a target to cut emissions to nearly 80 per cent of their 1990 level within the next 15 years.

Giving evidence to the House of Commons business, energy and industrial strategy (BEIS) committee this morning (19 January), he said legislation will put into law the targets the targets outlined in the Climate Change Committee (CCC)’s sixth carbon budget, which was published in the run up to Christmas.

The CCC recommended in this report that UK emissions should be cut to 78 per cent of 1990 levels by 2035.

This is nearly as much as the UK’s previous 2050 target of 80 per cent, which was in place until Parliament adopted its net zero goal two years ago.

The new target will be implemented via secondary legislation.

While acknowledging that the UK is not currently on track to meet this target, Kwarteng said that recently announced policies in the prime minister’s 10-point green recovery plan will bridge the gap with the aspirations in the sixth carbon budget.

The secretary of state was also quizzed on whether the government’s target to decarbonise the power sector by 2050 is insufficiently ambitious. The CCC report recommended that the power sector should be net zero carbon by 2035.

He said the 2050 goal is “certainly achievable” and that a “realistic target” is necessary in order to ensure that consumers are protected from price hikes.

“We feel 2050 is about right,” he said, adding that the emergence of new technologies may mean that the pace of decarbonisation may be more rapid.

Kwarteng, who was appointed secretary of state for BEIS earlier this month following the departure of his predecessor Alok Sharma to concentrate on the presidency of the UN COP26 climate summit, also reaffirmed his commitment to marine and tidal renewable technologies.

He told the committee that he is “very keen” to promote tidal and marine technologies in the Contracts for Difference (CfD) auction process at the end of this year.

He also defended the government’s continuing commitment to nuclear power on the grounds that it provides a source of reliable, low carbon electricity, without which decarbonisation of the grid would be “far more expensive.”

Business Council

Today also saw the first meeting of the Build Back Better Council, which brings together business leaders from a variety of sectors to “unlock investment, boost job creation, promote Global Britain and level up the whole of the UK”.

The utilities sector is represented among the 30 members by Severn Trent chief executive Liv Garfield.

It is co-chaired by the prime minister and chancellor, with Kwarteng as a standing member, and other ministers attending as required.