UK green sector greets faster connections, full expensing

The UK renewable energy industry has generally welcomed the UK Chancellor’s Autumn Statement on Wednesday, particularly the measures to accelerate grid connections and the decision to make the so-called “full expensing” permanent.

Full expensing is a capital allowance tax relief applicable to plant and machinery investment that could also support investments in green technologies.

RenewableUK’s chief executive Dan McGrail said this along with Friday’s announcement of GBP 960 million (USD 1.2bn/EUR 1.1bn) for a Green Industries Growth Accelerator will help the UK build up new supply chains at a time of intense international competition for investment in clean technology manufacturing.

McGrail added that the decision to extend tax relief on freeports from five to ten years will encourage new investment in offshore wind manufacturing.

At the same time, the government published its full response to Electricity Network Commissioner Nick Winser's report on accelerating electricity transmission network build, along with a Connections Action Plan. It said these will cut grid access times for larger projects by half, halve the time to build major grid upgrades and offer up to GBP 10,000 off electricity bills over 10 years for those living closest to new transmission infrastructure. The Connections Action Plan, a joint effort by the government and energy regulator Ofgem, is aimed at releasing over 100 GW of capacity from the current queue and cutting the average connection timeline from five years to six months.

“I am very glad to hear that the Government has accepted Nick Winser’s recommendations essentially in full. Not only will this plan stimulate investment in solar energy, but the removal of network construction delays should also reduce the impact on consumer bills,” said Chris Hewett, chief executive of Solar Energy UK.

The government is also committing to reforming the planning system to speed up approvals. This will involve “introducing new premium planning services across England with guaranteed accelerated decision dates for major applications and fee refunds wherever these are not met.”

Dan McGrail said RenewableUK is looking forward to more key announcements such as the publication of more details in March on next year’s contracts for difference (CfD) auction which it hopes will secure record new clean energy capacity.

(GBP 1 = USD 1.254/EUR 1.149)

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