The Chancellor has made a series of environment announcements in his budget.
Jeremy Hunt told MPs about the need to increase Government and private sector investment in priority industries for innovation and growth, including clean energy and allocated up to a further £120m to the Green Industries Growth Accelerator, which supports the expansion of supply chains in fields such as offshore wind, hydrogen and carbon capture.
He also reiterated a promise for a new grid connections process for renewable energy arrays to be in place by January 2025. The Government is currently working on reforms with the National Infrastructure Commission and energy regulator Ofgem.
Hunt confirmed that the Government will acquire the site for the decomissioned Wylfa nuclear power plant from previous developer Hitachi and stated that Great British Nuclear – a new arms-length body – will extend its innovation funding competition for small modular reactors (SMRs) to a second round. An initial round of more than £150m was confirmed last summer.
The Chancellor provided little detail about the Government’s strategic plans to support green manufacturing sectors.
Away from the headlines was conformation that the UK Government would like the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to regulate the provision of ESG ratings in order to tackle greenwashing.
Hunt also spoke of new powers and reforms at the FCA and the Pensions Regulator intended to de-risk investment in British start-ups and scale-ups, including those in cleantech fields.
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