Trade association Solar Energy UK has called on the newly elected Labour government to publish an “ambitious” Solar Roadmap and increase the Contracts for Difference (CfD) allocation in the round 6 budget.
Solar Energy UK, which said in a statement that it expects Labour’s electoral victory to “further accelerate the growth of the solar and energy storage industries”, believes that providing these adjustments to the policy landscape would send a clear signal to the industry to unlock investment.
Labour’s election manifesto heavily included energy policy at its heart. For instance, the Party said it would collaborate with the private sector to “double onshore wind power, triple solar power, and quadruple offshore wind power by 2030”. Implementing Solar Energy UK’s recommendations would thus aid the party in establishing the UK as a “clean energy superpower”.
Solar Energy UK’s manifesto demands that the UK reach 50GW of solar generation by 2030, with the nation expected to reach 20GW by the end of this year. The trade association foresees the UK having 30GW of zero-carbon storage by the decade’s end.
Allocating further resources to CfD allocation round 6 and tackling planning barriers are seen as utmost priorities. Labour has already committed to tackling lengthy grid connection delays. The party manifesto states that the electricity network is the “single biggest obstacle to the deployment of cheap, clean power generation and the electrification of industry”.
This article first appeared on our sister publication Solar Power Portal.
