The industry has been responding to the announcement that there will now be a new government department for energy – the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), which will be headed by Secretary of State Grant Shapps. The move is part of a decision to split energy away from the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and, according to Downing Street, will enable the country to focus on securing its long-term energy supply, while bringing down bills.
The UK last had a separate Energy Department in 2016 when it was merged with the Business Department by Theresa May.
“Putting net zero and energy security together makes sense,” says BESA’s technical director Graeme Fox. “They go hand-in-hand and one of the quickest ways to achieve both is to step up efforts to improve the energy performance of the built environment through a national programme of building retrofits.
“Investing in energy efficiency measures, scaling up the roll-out of heat pumps by bringing forward the promised funding, and driving investment in training to plug our green skills gap can all be done at speed.”
The Association has urged the government to bring forward the £6bn promised by the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt from 2025 to help building owners cut energy use by 15% compared with current levels. It also said the government would have to increase heat pump subsidies to achieve its long-stated ambition of growing the market to 600,000 installations a year by 2028.
“These are quick wins that could get our lagging net zero programme back on track, improve energy security and start cutting people’s bills,” adds Fox. “We are miles away from the 600,000 heat pumps a year target, but we could get there with some serious and focused support.”
The Prime Minister’s decision to create a new dedicated department will be key to a fair energy transition, according to Baxi, the heating and hot water solutions manufacturer.
Jeff House, Baxi’s external affairs & policy director at Baxi, comments: “By returning to a smaller and more focussed department we hope to see government continue to work with industry on heat decarbonisation in a pragmatic and consumer centric fashion. Security of supply, customer affordability and decarbonisation all need to be considered in conjunction to ensure fairness in the energy transition.”
The news has also received a positive response from Martin Fahey, head of sustainability at Mitsubishi Electric. He says: “This move should help to drive investment and business opportunities around renewable forms of energy. Critically, it will also support the goal of decarbonising our country and moving to more sustainable technologies, like heat pumps, that can be applied at the pace required to buildings in all their forms which account for such a large part of the emissions generated as a country.
“With the cost of living crisis and high energy prices an ongoing challenge, a continued move towards renewable energy will also reduce the UK’s reliance on gas and oil, and their volatile prices, and give the UK greater energy security for the future.”
