East Anglia has a “huge opportunity” to lead the decarbonisation of the UK’s energy sector, the head of the country’s biggest power generator said.
Tom Glover, UK country chair of RWE, which generates 15pc of the country’s energy, said the East’s diverse energy sector – with offshore wind, gas, nuclear, carbon capture and storage, solar and hydrogen - has the potential to lead the way for future decarbonisation.
“All of this technology has a part to play in the UK’s pathway to decarbonising, with offshore wind doing the heavy lifting of a decarbonised system, which is the natural strength of East Anglia,” Mr Glover said, speaking at the East of England Energy Group’s (EEEGR) Southern North Sea conference (SNS2024) in Norwich.
“Every energy technology is needed for the UK’s energy pathway to decarbonise, with offshore wind as a backbone of a decarbonised energy system.
“It is a huge opportunity for East Anglia. You host all of the technologies and will be a key region for decarbonisation in the power sector of the future and we are delighted to be part of it.”
The UK has pledged to reach net zero by 2050, meaning the country will take the same amount of harmful planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, like carbon dioxide, out of the atmosphere as it puts in.
Labour plans to almost entirely remove fossil fuels from the country’s electricity production by 2030, five years earlier than current government plans.
“We have a huge target and need to go three times faster and need to do it in the next six years if Labour becomes the next government,” Mr Glover said.
“But how will we do that when it takes 13 years to deliver an offshore wind farm?”
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“The grid is the biggest single challenge. Offshore wind farms are delayed two to five years because of the grid challenges and the fundamental issue is the lack of grid infrastructure and the lack of pylons.
“Onshore works including the Norwich to Tilbury line are crucial to get to modern electrified world.”
Mr Glover said the UK needs to create highways for energy to achieve its full potential.
He called for a stable and transparent support framework for offshore wind auctions and to fix planning to accelerate the consenting proves and provide greater certainty over decision making.
He also wants to see a reform of the grid and to develop skills to prepare the workforce for the transition.
“The offshore wind workforce is forecast to grow by another 70,000 in the next few years at the same time as everyone else is trying to get engineers,” he said.
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In the UK, RWE has every energy technology apart from nuclear and its global ambition is to be net zero by 2040, with aims to invest eight billion euros net by 2030.
It acquired the Norfolk Offshore Wind portfolio from Vattenfall in December last year - completing the £963m purchase in March.
The Norfolk Offshore Wind Zone is made up of three projects - Norfolk Vanguard East, Norfolk Vanguard West and Norfolk Boreas - located 50 to 80km off the Norfolk coast in the North Sea.
Each has a planned capacity of 1.4GW and together will power more than four million UK homes.
RWE is also conducting a feasibility study to use Great Yarmouth Power Station for carbon capture and storage.
“Hydrogen is not cheap,” Mr Glover said. “We need a government policy to deliver on hydrogen projects.”
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