Responding to the Government’s second consultation in its Review of electricity market arrangements (REMA), Energy UK’s Deputy Director, Kisha Couchman said:
“With more and more of our power generated by an increasingly diverse range of clean energy sources and a growing role for flexibility, the electricity market has continued to undergo significant change over recent years – something that will accelerate further as our sector helps enable the transition to Net Zero.
“So we welcome the Government pressing ahead with ensuring the electricity market is fit for this future and capable of attracting the billions of pounds of investment we need for power generation, storage, and network infrastructure.
“The challenge is to bring forward changes that will support this aim while also providing the certainty that is essential to bringing forward long-term investment – especially when we have no time to waste and there is increasing international competition for such funding. So it’s also right to look at how changes to existing mechanisms like Contracts for Difference and the Capacity Market can help address issues like decoupling.
“The pathway to Net Zero set out by the Climate Change Committee does include a small role for unabated gas to ensure security of supply but the Government must also ensure that there is a clear decarbonisation pathway for these plants, either through carbon capture and storage or hydrogen.
“The energy industry will continue to work closely with the Government to create a market that can best deliver the clean energy to power our economy and our homes in the most cost-efficient way, further strengthen our energy security and reduce emissions.”