A leaked letter which predicts the UK will fail to meet its EU obligation to generate 15% of energy from renewables by 2020 has left Energy Secretary Amber Rudd accused of misleading the public.
The letter, sent by Rudd and obtained by The Ecologist Magazine, discloses the department’s internal forecasts, which say the UK will only manage to source around 11.5% of energy from renewables by the deadline. The letter goes on to say that despite this, “publicly we are clear that the UK continues to make progress to meet the target”.
The letter is sure to anger those already perturbed by cuts to subsidies for solar and wind energy, as the government maintained it is on course to meet the international targets.
As recently as June, Russ stated that the UK “will be meeting our targets” and was “committed to ensuring that we deliver on our de-carbonisation targets”, while speaking of discontinuing subsidies for onshore wind energy.
However, the letter says that the current trajectory would lead to a shortfall against the 2020 target of “around 50 TWh (with a range of 32-67THh) or 3.5% points (with a range of 2.1 0 4.5% points) in our internal central forecasts (which are not public). Publicly we are clear that the UK continues to make progress to meet the target.”
The letter, which was sent to four other ministers, goes on to warn that the UK could face fines if it misses the target, and judicial review if it does not have a credible plan to meet the obligations.
While sources in the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) insist that Rudd has not misled parliament, as she only said that the UK was “on course” to meet the 30% sub-target for all electricity to come from renewables; Labour, the Green party and environmental campaigners have called for the DECC to be transparent about its internal forecasts.
Rudd is likely to face stern questions from the Commons energy committee on Tuesday, when she is due to talk about the department’s annual report and accounts.
A DECC spokesman said: “We do not comment on leaked documents. As the secretary of state has set out clearly in the House, renewables made up almost 20% of our electricity generation in 2014 and there is a strong pipeline to deliver our ambition of reaching 30% by 2020. We continue to make progress to meet our overall renewable energy target.
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