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The Liberal Democrats have set out their plans for a massive private investment programme into the energy sector in their 2015 “pre-manifesto”.
The junior coalition partner said it aims to attract a further £100 billion of private investment into low-carbon energy infrastructure by 2020, with an emphasis on carbon capture and storage (CCS), tidal power, energy storage, and ultra-low emission vehicles.
Key to attracting this investment would be plans to set a 2030 decarbonation target range of 50 – 100gCO2/kWh, with “60 per cent of electricity generation from renewable sources by 2030”.
The ambitious decarbonisation target was not directly included in the 2013 Energy Act as proposed by the Labour party, although the coalition did include a provision for the target to be set at these levels after the next general election.
The manifesto says the party would end all unabated coal generation by 2025, and that any new gas-fired power stations built after 2030 would have to be fitted with CCS technology.
Coupled with this, saving energy would be made “a top infrastructure priority”, with the Lib Dems proposing to introduce an Electricity Demand Reduction market, which it claims could also lead to greater investment.
The party stated its vision for a “Zero Carbon Britain” by 2050, alongside plans to “realise the full potential” of the Green Investment Bank, which would include expanding its remit, and allowing it to raise funds independently.
The Liberal Democrats also outlined plans to assist energy consumers, by “forcing” suppliers to let customers change supplier to a cheaper provider within 24 hours, and to aid the creation of energy buying co-operatives.
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