Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey’s Energy Bill has bought some clarity to Britain’s Energy needs and some welcome recognition for energy intensive industries, but more needs to be done if we are to secure increased investment in the UK chemical industry. That’s the verdict of the UK’s number one manufacturing exporter.
Steve Elliott, the boss of the UK Chemical Industries Association (CIA) said: “we welcome today’s move to provide energy companies and industrial consumers with more certainty on the future electricity market framework. Investment in new generation capacity is critical to the security of future power supplies. But its also vital that this is achieved in a cost effective manner to help ensure the UK’s future as a competitive location for the chemical sector. We look to the more detailed announcements later this year and next for further reassurance.”
“We applaud the government’s confirmation that it intends to exempt energy intensive industries from the additional costs of subsidising renewables and nuclear generation. These costs would otherwise threaten to put us further out of step with countries in which industrial consumers do not face such costs, like the US, or where these costs are already mitigated, like Germany. It will therefore be important that the UK exempts a sufficiently broad range of energy intensive activities and also looks at the rising costs of existing renewable subsidies.”
He continued: “There should also be a continuing role for gas as part of the generating mix. In this context the safe exploitation of unconventional gas in the UK offers an opportunity to ensure secure competitive supplies. Gas is also a critical source of energy and raw materials for the chemical sector. So we look forward to the Chancellor’s announcements in the Autumn Statement and hope this will also include news on re-incentivising our use of energy efficient combined heat and power.
CIA members contribute £80 million every day to the country’s GDP, Elliott concluded “The chemical sector has 3 vital roles – we provide the raw materials used by many other industries in their finished products such as cars, planes and homes; our products and technologies are helping our customers to save energy be it through lighter car parts or home insulation. To go on doing this and provide work for over half a million people we need to ensure Britain’s energy is reliable and competitively priced”
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Notes To Editors:
For an interview with Steve Elliott, please contact Simon Marsh, 07951 389197
www.cia.org.uk