Grantham MP Gareth Davies met with Minister for Energy, Greg Hands today alongside fellow Lincolnshire MPs Sir Edward Leigh and Sir John Hayes to discuss the Government’s new Energy Security Strategy.
The video call was particularly focussed on the role that solar energy presentation has to play in Britain’s energy future. The Lincolnshire MPs raised the number of solar developments which have recently been proposed in the county, and especially the concerns of local people about the impacts of the Mallard Pass Solar Farm near Stamford.
Food security was raised as a matter of high importance given the extent of agricultural land which is set to be developed for solar energy generation alongside the importance of consulting the local community around any significant developments and the role MPs can play in relaying the views of their constituents to the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy.
The new Energy Strategy will aim for 95% of electricity by 2030 being low carbon through a significant acceleration of nuclear energy to make up 25% of our projected electricity demand. New targets will also be established for offshore wind and the manufacturing of heat pumps in the UK in order to reduce demands for gas.
Solar development is to concentrate on brownfield sites and installations on domestic and commercial rooftops in order to grow the UK’s current capacity by 5 times by 2035.
Prices of renewables have been consistently decreasing, with the price of offshore wind dramatically falling by around 65% since 2015, onshore wind prices down 50% since 2013, and residential roof top solar panels are now less than 50% the price they were a decade ago.
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