HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL
PLANNING AND EXTERNAL RELATIONS PANEL
TUESDAY 16 SEPTEMBER 2008 at 10.00 AM
UK Renewable Energy Strategy Consultation
Report of the Director of Environment
Contact: John Rumble
Tel: 01992 556296
Executive Member: Derrick Ashley (Planning, Partnerships and Waste)
1 Purpose
1.1 To inform the Panel of the content of the UK Renewable Energy Strategy Consultation and seek views on the proposed County Council response.
2 Summary
2.1 The department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) is consulting on the UK Renewable Energy Strategy with a closing date of 26 September 2008 for responses to the fifty questions being asked. This strategy sets out a range of proposals for increasing the UK’s renewable energy capacity to 15% of all energy use by 2020. The proposed response to the issues raised is attached as appendix 1 to this report.
2.2 The proposals contained within the strategy raise some issues for the County Council as local government is identified as one of the delivery agencies for the strategy. These issues relate to the authorities role in spatial planning, as a property holder, as a community leader and as an energy user. The strategy when implemented is likely to place additional requirements upon the organisation to facilitate the delivery of renewable energy capacity within Hertfordshire.
3 Recommendations
3.1 That the panel agree the consultation response attached at appendix 1 to this report.
4. Background/Context
4.1 In June 2008 the Government Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) issued its consultation on the UK Renewable Energy Strategy, with a closing date for consultation responses of 26 September 2008.
4.2 This strategy is seen as one of the main policy instruments towards the delivery of a low carbon energy future. It is also the means by which national government will meet its target of 15% of UK energy from renewable sources by 2020. This target will contribute towards the UK’s share of achieving the EU wide target of 20% of energy from renewable sources by 2020 as agreed by all member states in spring 2007.
4.3 The consultation document asks forty one questions about the policy approach and implementation proposals in the strategy and nine additional questions relating specifically to the issue of feed-in tariffs for small scale electricity generation. A proposed response to these questions is attached as appendix 1 to this report.
5. UK Renewable Energy Strategy – Main Proposals.
5.1 The strategy highlights the two key energy policy challenges: to tackle climate change and ensure security of energy supply. To meet these challenges, the aim is to develop a diverse low-carbon energy mix including renewables, nuclear power and carbon capture and storage, and to promote energy efficiency and demand reduction. Renewable sources of energy have a vital part to play in the overall delivery of this strategy. They provide low-carbon energy, increase the diversity of the national energy mix, and bring key business and employment opportunities.
5.2 In spring 2007 the UK agreed with its EU partners to a binding target that 20% of the EU’s energy consumption must come from renewable sources by 2020. The European Commission has proposed that the UK’s contribution to this should be to increase the share of renewables in our energy mix from around 1.5% in 2006 to 15% by 2020. This will be a very challenging target and it will be important to meet it in the most cost-effective way possible.
5.3 In this strategy document BERR are consulting on a range of possible measures to deliver the UK share of the EU target. Together they could lead to almost a ten-fold increase in our use of renewable energy – across electricity, heat and transport – by 2020. This will affect consumers, businesses and the wider environment. Everyone in the UK will have a role to play in this endeavour.
5.4 The UK already has a wide range of policies in place to deliver increased renewable deployment in the UK. This consultation is asking for views about the additional measures that the UK will need to employ. These could include:
· extending and raising the level of the Renewables Obligation to encourage up to 30-35% of our electricity to come from renewable sources by 2020;
· introducing a new financial incentive mechanism to encourage a very large increase in renewable heat;
· delivering more effective financial support for small-scale heat and electricity technologies in homes and buildings;
· helping the planning system to deliver, by agreeing a clear deployment strategy at regional level similar to the approach established for housing;
· ensuring appropriate incentives for new electricity grid infrastructure and removing grid access as a barrier to renewable deployment;
· exploiting the full potential of energy from waste, by discouraging the land-filling of biomass as far as is practical;
· requiring all bio-fuels to meet strict sustainability criteria, to limit adverse impacts on food prices, or other social and environmental concerns;
· promoting the development of new renewable technologies, through effective support particularly where the UK has the potential to be a market leader;
· maximising the benefits for UK business and jobs, by providing a clear long-term policy framework, working with Regional Development Agencies to tackle key blockages, considering support for specific technologies and addressing skills shortages.
5.5 Local Authorities are identified as having a key role to play in ensuring that the UK meets its targets for renewable energy. As the UK moves towards a less centralised energy supply system, the challenge will be to find solutions that have a local fit – suitable to local conditions and variation, whether it is population density, building mix or local geography. Renewable energy is more visible to local people, and local councils have a key role to play in securing local support for renewable projects.
5.6 Local Government plays various roles – as consumers of energy, planners, economic regenerators, housing providers, community leaders and convenors of local partnerships. Each role provides a platform for promoting renewable energy supply:
· in exercising their spatial planning powers, local planning authorities are required to identify suitable locations for low-carbon and renewable energy sources and decentralised energy networks. Through the Local Development Framework and associated planning documents, local councils can require renewable energy supply as a condition of new development;
· through the ownership and management of public land and property (including street lighting, housing, transport and public buildings), local councils can exercise a powerful demonstration effect through their use of renewable energy;
· in the new Regional Economic Strategies, bringing together regional plans, local councils can work with regional partners to both assess and develop the opportunities for renewable supply;
· as major energy consumers, local councils and their local public sector partners can enter into long–term supply contracts;
· as the providers of grants and through their investment in local economic regeneration, local councils can facilitate access to finance for renewable energy companies;
· as community leaders, local councils can build acceptance for renewable projects, by engaging local residents, ensuring that projects are transparent and accountable and by ensuring that there is a clear benefit to the local economy. They can also act as trusted information providers to citizens, to builders, to equipment installers and repairers and to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) on support schemes.
6. Issues for Hertfordshire County Council
6.1 The main implications for the County Council arise from the key role identified for local authorities in the delivery of the UK Renewable Energy Strategy as set out in paragraph 5.6 above. The strategy is calling for a greater emphasis on the development of renewable energy capability across the Country and will have implications for renewable energy development, both small scale and large scale in Hertfordshire.
6.2 In terms of spatial planning this will impact upon the work of the authority in terms of its waste planning function, its development control function for HCC development and its role in advising on the regional spatial strategy. It will also impact upon the joint working undertaken with the district councils in respect of infrastructure development for both energy and transport.
6.3 There are also potential implications for the authority in respect of its economic development function and its working with the Regional Development Agency (EEDA). A greater understanding of the requirements of a low carbon economy will need to be developed as will expertise in implementing this policy approach.
6.4 The authority is already taking action in respect of its own impact upon CO2 emissions through the work undertaken on the mitigation element of the Climate Change Strategy However here the emphasis has been placed on emissions reduction through the application of energy efficiency measures rather than the development of renewable energy technologies. The suggestion in this strategy is that a greater emphasis on the application of renewables technologies should start to be implemented as part of the authorities overall approach to energy management and this is something that could have significant implications for this authority in respect of its property portfolio.
6.5 Finally the strategy identifies a clear role for local government as community leaders in developing acceptance for renewable energy capacity and in gaining support from communities for its implementation. This may be an issue which the County Council would wish to discuss with other partners through Herts Forward in order to secure a multi-agency approach to the community leadership expectations set out within the strategy.
7. Financial Implications
7.1 There are no financial implications arising directly from this report.
Background information used in compiling this report
HM Government, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory reform. “UK Renewable Energy Strategy – Consultation” June 2008
Appendix 1 Consultation Questions - Proposed Response
Chapter 1 - Renewables and the Energy and Climate Challenge
Q1: How might we design policies to meet the 2020 renewable energy target that give enough certainty to business but allow flexibility to change the level of ambition for a sector or the level of financial incentive as new information emerges?
Policies need to be flexible to allow for local interpretation to ensure that as circumstances change solutions can be identified and implemented that best suit different localities. A one size fits all approach would be inappropriate and would not allow for local interpretation and innovation.
Q2: To what extent should we be open to the idea of meeting some of our renewable energy target through deployment in other countries?
This should be seen as a last resort and only used where there are clear advantages to the receiving locality.
Chapter 2 - Saving Energy
Q3: In the light of the EU renewable energy target, where should we focus further action on energy efficiency and what, if any, additional policies or measures would deliver the most cost-effective savings?
Additional pressure should be brought to bear on the energy utilities to ensure their cooperation and support for the delivery of appropriate energy efficiency measures in local communities. These should be focused on cost effective measures delivered to a broad spectrum of households and businesses to ensure the timely delivery of these initiatives to all sectors of UK PLC.
Chapter 3 - Centralised Electricity
Q4: Are our assessments of the potential of different renewable electricity technologies correct?
No Comment
Q5: What more could the Government or other parties do to enable the planning system to facilitate renewable deployment?
There is a significant skills gap within the planning system in respect of the understanding of renewable energy development and the planning issues associated with it. Additional work needs to be undertaken to identify effective ways of utilising these limited resources as well as expanding the knowledge base amongst planning professionals in this area. One solution might be to move towards a more centralised approach to large scale renewable development at the Regional or County level.
Q6: What more could the Government or other parties do to ensure community support for new renewable generation?
No Comment
Q7: What more could the Government or other parties do to reduce the constraints on renewable wind power development arising from:
· marine navigation;
· environmental legislation;
· aviation and radar;
· any other aspects of regulation?
No Comment
Q8: Taking into account decisions already taken on the offshore transmission regime and the measures set out in the Transmission Access Review, what more could the Government or other parties do to reduce the constraints on renewable development arising from grid issues?
The government needs ensure that regulators are able to bring pressure to bear on energy utilities to take part in the regional and local planning processes to ensure that grid issues and constraints are fed into the planning process at the appropriate (very early) stages of plan development.
Q9: What more could the Government or other parties do to reduce supply chain constraints on new renewables deployment?
No Comment
Q10: Do you agree with our analysis on the importance of retaining the Renewables Obligation as our prime support mechanism for centralised renewable electricity?
No Comment
Q11: What changes (if any) should we make to the Renewables Obligation in the light of the EU 2020 renewable energy target?
No Comment
Q12: What (if any) changes are needed to the current electricity market regime to ensure that the proposed increase in renewables generation does not undermine security of electricity supplies, and how can greater flexibility and responsiveness be encouraged in the demand side?
No Comment
Chapter 4 - Heat
Q13: Assuming financial support measures are in place, what more could the Government do to realise the full potential of renewable Combined Heat and Power?
Rather than rely on a diverse range of policy instruments delivered across a wide variety of strategies and organisations a local approach to the delivery of energy developments could be progressed through the application of local energy strategies. These could be developed at either the Regional or County level as part of the statutory policy framework.
Q14: Are our assessments of the potential of renewable heat deployment correct?