The Statement was positive in allocating resources to the Regional Growth Fund, increasing tax relief for manufacturers for spending on new machinery, and more but the gas strategy released simultaneously is unclear about the role of gas beyond 2016.
The strategy envisages 26GW of new gas capacity by 2030, but also mentions that this could be revised to 37GW in 2014, bringing in uncertainty about the growth of renewable technologies, the body said.
RenewableUK has also expressed disappointment over the delay in providing borrowing capacity to the Green Investment Bank until 2016-17.
RenewableUK’s chief executive Maria McCaffery said, "It’s a tough investment climate at the moment and a further delay to the ability of the Green Investment Bank to help priority sectors like offshore wind comes as a bit of a blow".
UK business lobby CBI commented that the country cannot depend on any one energy source, stating, "gas will have an important role to play as part of a secure, low-carbon power mix alongside renewables, nuclear and carbon capture and storage."
Scottish Renewables said that while the government has reiterated that 30% of energy will be sourced from renewable sources by 2020, it also needs to be known from where the remaining power would come.
The agency’s chief executive Niall Stuart said that the opponents of renewable energy have been proposing shale gas as an alternative but the resource can meet only 10% of the requirement.
"The process of ‘fracking’ also poses serious risks of methane escapes, adding to emissions of one of the most potent greenhouse gases," Stuart observed.
The Solar Trade Association has observed that the gas strategy will adversely affect the renewable energy market, especially the independent generators and on-site investors. This might also lead to the hiatus of industry players.
