ECCC report: Energy storage can be revolutionary for the UK

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It will be a sad day on Monday 17 October, as the House of Commons’ Energy and Climate Change Select Committee (ECCC) will be disbanded after over seven years of admirable work advising the U.K. government on future energy challenges. Before packing up and saying goodnight, the ECCC will leave us with one last report, ‘The energy revolution and future challenges for UK energy and climate change policy,’ which will stress the important of energy storage, renewables, and demand-side technologies for the U.K.’s energy future.

The ECC looked specifically at the upcoming energy transition and the impacts that Brexit will have on the U.K.’s energy and climate policy. Although the full report will not be released until 15 October, the U.K.’s Renewable Energy Association (REA) has released snippets of the report, and highlighted the major themes that will be included within.

Most outstanding is that the ECCC believes that energy storage can be “revolutionary” for the country, calling upon the government to show clear support for energy storage and demand-side technology. Going further, it states that “with the appropriate strategy, policies, and regulatory framework in place, Britain can become a world leader in the green technology sector,” and that this would present a huge economic opportunity for the U.K. Something that would surely be welcome in the aftermath of Brexit, which has shrouded the country’s economy in uncertainty, while the British Pound Sterling continues to plummet.

It a showing of fellowship, the REA responded to the report with a call for the government to put renewables at the center of its plans for the U.K.’s energy future, while also thanking the ECCC for its diligent work over the years.

“The report highlights Brexit-related “known unknowns” facing the U.K. including uncertainty around the EU ETS, the Internal Energy Market, and access to major financial institutions such as the European Investment Bank,” said Nina Skorupska, Chief Executive of the Renewable Energy Association. “Given these uncertainties, it is critical that the government takes basic steps to stabilize investment in the energy sector. The release of the Carbon Reduction Plan would be a good first step.

“We welcome the Committee’s calls for energy storage and other low carbon technologies to sit at the heart of the forthcoming industrial strategy,” she continued. “I would like to thank the committee for their diligence in highlighting to the government the issues and major opportunities facing the U.K.’s energy market. Their input will be missed.” A declaration that is surely echoed across the renewable energy industry throughout the country.

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