UK on track

The UK is on course to meet its 2020 renewables target, according to a new report from National Grid. According to the Transmission Networks Quarterly Connections Update, 31,950 MW of existing and proposed renewable energy generation capacity has connection agreements over the next decade.

Currently 4950 MW of renewable generation capacity is connected to the transmission network, with proposed projects as of the end of October this year totalling a further 27,000 MW. Together this will be sufficient to power over 20 million homes and would surpass the 29,000 MW estimated by the National Grid to be needed to meet the 2020 target of 15% of the country’s total energy demand from renewables.

However, the report cautions that the figures are only a step in the right direction and a complete reform of the market is the only way to ensure the right conditions for investment in future projects.

Scotland meanwhile is on course to achieve a 42% cut in emissions by 2020, based on 1990 levels, and is calling on the UK and EU to toughen up their emissions targets.

Europe is moving towards 100 percent renewables by 2050. It already has over 200 GW of installed renewable power.

Can this transition be effected in time and with the EROI one would like to have? That is the big question. Investment is important but not difficult to find once policy steers energy supply that way.