Spotlight on renewables and energy policy at Prospect summit

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Spotlight on renewables and energy policy at Prospect summit

The potential of renewables and how to make political progress on energy policy were top of the agenda at a Prospect summit held in London at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers on Thursday, 4 April.



Energy Summit April 2019

In an audience of around 50 people, Prospect members and reps were joined by energy industry leaders, policy experts, academics and journalists.

There were two panel discussions and they were both followed by lively audience Q&As.

Is 100% renewables possible in the UK?

  • Chair: Sue Ferns, Prospect senior deputy general secretary
  • Javier Cavada, CEO Highview Energy
  • Fintan Slye, director, UK systems operator, National Grid
  • Humphrey Cadoux-Hudson, managing director, nuclear development, EDF Energy
  • Tom Burke, chair E3G

How can we make political progress on energy policy?

  • Chair: Basil Scarsella, CEO UKPN
  • Alan Brown MP, SNP spokesperson for energy
  • Jon Phillips, director of corporate affairs, Global Infrastructure Investor Association
  • Mike Clancy, Prospect general secretary

In her introductory remarks, Sue Ferns said: “We all agree that the climate science is indisputable and it must drive us towards a low carbon economy.”

She added that the UK already had strict emissions and renewables targets to meet and that they would likely become even stricter in the coming years. This would be compounded by increasing demand for electricity, for example from electric vehicles.

“Our view as a union is that where we have targets for 2030 or 2050, we need to be making decisions now on the future direction of energy policy, how to reverse the decline in investment trends and what the capacity mix is going to be in the future,” Ferns said.

“If we know where we’re headed then we need to plot the pathway to get there. There’s probably a shared frustration at the lack of progress towards those objectives. Campaigning is important but we also believe it needs informed industrial input so that we know what is possible, and in what timescale.”

Prospect organised the summit to explore the issues, have a knowledgeable debate and to hear from experts and leaders within the industry.

You can find reports of the panel discussions here:

How can we make political progress on energy policy?

Panel debate: Is 100% renewables possible in the UK?

Audience Q&A: Is 100% renewables possible in the UK?

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