Sunshine seems in short supply so far this summer, but the prospects for our ongoing campaign to promote solar power on warehouse rooftops looks bright.
Green energy is firmly on the general election agenda, with all parties jostling to seize the initiative, and Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer promising immediate action on a ‘clean energy plan’, including setting up GB Energy in Scotland to help the transition to net zero – should he be elected on July 4.
However, as we discussed at our recent Warehouse Roadshow in Cardiff, positive progress on rooftop solar has already been achieved since the launch of our campaign.
Last November, the government announced permitted development changes to make installation of rooftop solar panels easier, removing the previous 1MW restriction (in recent weeks, the Scottish government has implemented the same change). Now solar power can be installed on commercial rooftops throughout the UK without going through the planning system. This will expedite solar rooftop projects and is a significant cost saving for businesses looking to embrace renewable energy.
In the same month, new rules to speed up electricity grid connections for viable projects and allow stalled or speculative developers to be forced out of the queue were announced by Ofgem. This change stepped away from the existing ‘first-come, first-served’ system, which, according to Ofgem, had resulted in a long queue of energy projects which could generate almost 400GW of electricity – well in excess of what is needed to power the entire British energy system.
The rule change gives National Grid ESO the power to introduce strict milestones into connection agreements and terminate projects if they do not hit them at each project stage.
In May came another important announcement. This time from the National Grid itself, whose full year results statement was accompanied by a commitment to a five-year £60 billion investment plan to ‘build now, at pace, for the future’. This is good news indeed. UKWA has long been highlighting the urgent need for investment and demanding the overhaul of both the National Grid and the DNOs, which we believe are not fit for purpose and represent major barriers to rolling out solar power on warehouse rooftops across the UK.
While the general election has delayed the publication of the keenly anticipated Solar Roadmap, we are determined to keep up the pressure on policy influencers to support and help facilitate solar power on warehouse rooftops. Our UKWA General Election Manifesto calls on the future government for a successor to the Solar Taskforce (the body responsible for producing the Strategic Solar Roadmap), to maintain momentum with commercial rooftop initiatives and accelerate the decarbonisation of the electricity network.
The Warehousing sector remains an ‘easy win’ in making ground toward net zero targets, and UKWA stands ready to continue its work with the new government, whomsoever it may be, to drive our rooftop solar campaign forward, to the benefit not only of our members, but to the whole of the UK.
Clare Bottle
UKWA, CEO
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