This op-ed from Sir Roger Marsh OBE DL was first published in the Northern Agenda on 9 February, 2023.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Prime Minister tweeted that ‘The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero will focus on giving the UK cheaper, cleaner, more secure sources of energy’ – a laudable goal and one that should be well received.
We welcome the establishment of the new Department, but the time is right for immediate action and the first thing on the agenda for Grant Shapps should be committing wholeheartedly to green growth in the North.
As NP11’s Net Zero North prospectus shows, a Northern Green Industrial Revolution has the potential to create 100,000 new green jobs by 2050, adding more than £2bn a year to the energy economy in the region and all while reducing carbon emissions by 50% by 2032 against 2005 levels.
Shapps, and his newly formed department, need to be swift and decisive in the pursuit of green growth. It should mark the start of a more collaborative, strategic approach which maximises impact and we have seen the potential for significant return on investment in the North.
The region has been a hotbed of success and investment, with the skills and impetus to deliver. We have seen the success of the Walney and Hornsea wind farms as well as the incredible innovations being generated on Britain’s Energy Coast in Cumbria. In Greater Manchester we’ve recently seen the launch of the new Green Skills Academy which has heralded a new avenue for learners.
These are successes to be built upon, not to be admired in isolation. It should be more widely understood that half of all renewable energy generated comes from the North and there’s plenty more to be had.
Considerable efforts have been made to reduce energy demand through decarbonising industry clusters and their supply chains. The region’s highly skilled manufacturing industry will be critical in delivering what is needed to transform energy systems.
Our plans are ambitious and credible, with research, projects and strong partnerships between public, private, academic and community sectors across the North in place to deliver at scale and at pace.
As we look across the international economic landscape, we’re seeing a cavalcade of subsidies and green tax breaks being offered by the US, the EU and China to drive clean growth. The UK has placed itself at the forefront of Net Zero ambition, but competition is heating up.
The step change in attitude across the major economic powers, and the swathe of interventions that have come with it, risks catching up to and eclipsing the gains the UK has made in placing itself at the forefront of achieving Net Zero.
Schemes such as Hynet, HyGreen Teesside and Yorkshire Energy Park have vast potential, and with the right support can deliver the UK’s net zero ambitions whilst creating new, highly skilled jobs. The Northern Forest has already established over 3 million new trees since 2018, with aspirations to reach 50 million.
At the Convention of The North, we showcased that partners in the North are working to collaborate and deliver nationally significant investments. These will deliver greater benefits for the region rather than intensifying competition for Government funding.
We are in the position to succeed now. We need to ensure that the current national policy and regulation is in place to give investors in green energy the confidence they need to make long term investments.
Further investment would enable the UK to decarbonise faster and enhance energy security, cementing our position as a world-leader in low carbon power generation – achieving Net Zero faster and at a lower cost.
The new Department of Energy should work with us to take co-ordinated, systematic action to deliver on this potential, which will require collaboration across boundaries and between sectors to achieve.
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