A coalition of businesses and green organisations have lined up to lobby members of parliament on the target as the Energy Bill — which aims to overhaul the UK's electricity market — reaches a crucial stage today.
The bill has been criticised for not giving enough certainty to investors in clean technology. A target to decarbonise the electricity market by 2030 would achieve this, its supporters say.
Politicians will vote tomorrow on an amendment to the bill that would ensure that this target — and a framework to deliver it — is in place by 2014. The government has previously said that it will delay a decision on the target until 2016.
RES chief operating officer UK and Ireland Gordon MacDougall warned: "If this amendment is not made, the issue won't be revisited again until 2016 and critical investment decisions will have been delayed, with negative impacts on the growth of a UK supply chain, jobs and innovation."
Government advisory body the Committee on Climate Change has already warned that policy uncertainty is damaging the low-carbon transition and investment in infrastructure. It too has called for the government to set a target to reduce the carbon intensity of power generation from 500g CO2/kWh to around 50g CO2/kWh in 2030.
Wind developers back UK decarbonisation target
UK: Wind developers SSE, Dong Energy and RES are supporting calls for a target to decarbonise the UK's electricity system by 2030.
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