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BWEA welcomes budget steps on renewable energy

March 12, 2008

BWEA, the UK leading renewable business organisation welcomed today's budget as the first step towards providing a framework for an expansion of renewable energy.

BWEA Chairman Adam Bruce said "This budget begins to map out a new policy deal for renewable energy" he added "The Government is beginning to understand the scale of the potential for the UK provided by renewable energy. Not only is it good for the planet, it is good for the economy as well."

BWEA supports today's Budget announcement of the launch a consultation on a new Renewable Energy Strategy in this Summer, which will consider how the UK can deliver on the new binding target of delivering 15% of all the UK's energy from renewable sources by 2020.

The 2020 target will require up to 40% of the UK's electricity supply to come from renewables, including some 33GW of offshore wind power, in little over a decade. The new strategy will have to tackle the real problems that wind companies face gaining access to the National Grid and the severe delays in the planning system.

The Budget confirmed that the strategy will also look at whether to introduce a new support mechanism of 'feed-in tariff' for small and micro generation. Feed in tariffs provide a fixed price and guaranteed sale for renewables producers. BWEA support the measure and welcome the Government's move.

BWEA is pleased that the Government has reconfirmed its previous pledge to provide £200m for renewables & low carbon technologies as part of the Environmental Transformation Fund. However, what was missing from the Budget was a new support structure for the emerging technologies of wave & tidal power, which will be needed in the longer term.

Bruce added 'BWEA supports the proposals for carbon budgets, which could make a real difference to tackling climate change, but the Government must recognise that households and businesses will only be able to live within them if they have access to clean, green energy on the scale that only wind can supply'.

For further information contact Charles Anglin, Director of Communications at charles@bwea.com or on 020 7689 1966.

The British Wind Energy Association is the trade and professional body for the UK wind and marine renewables industries. Formed in 1978, and with over 370 corporate members, BWEA is the leading renewable energy trade association in the UK. Wind has been the world's fastest growing renewable energy source for the last seven years, and this trend is expected to continue with falling costs of wind energy and the urgent international need to tackle CO2 emissions to prevent climate change.