Conservative party conference: a net benefit
Policy Director
As the energy crisis made abundantly clear, countries cannot afford to ignore the link between how their energy is supplied and their prospects of economic security and success. Internationally, many countries have been able to both grow their economy and reduce their emissions.
The UK is following in this pattern, having already made impressive progress in expanding domestic energy production, whilst at the same time moving closer to the goal of Net Zero emissions. The UK is now a leader in offshore wind, and new nuclear reactors are approved for construction.
Shadow Minister for Energy Security & Net Zero Andrew Bowie joined a private roundtable with a group of energy sector experts, where they discussed the future of the UK’s energy economy and the Conservatives’ priorities.
Three key takeaways from me:
- Demand for energy has long outstripped supply in Britain, an effect predating the price shock from the war in Ukraine. Between 2004 and 2021, the industrial price of energy doubled relative to consumer prices. Participants discussed a new essay, Foundations: why Britain has stagnated, and particularly the high costs of building energy infrastructure in Britain. The next nuclear power plant in Britain, Hinkley Point C, is between four and six times more costly per megawatt than South Korean plants, and reducing the cost of domestic energy capacity is a crucial issue for the next stage of the Nuclear Roadmap.
- Balancing national needs, particularly energy security, with local interests was a common theme in the discussion. Local communities have legitimate concerns about how energy infrastructure will be built in their areas, but these can’t be allowed to create national shortages which affect the whole country. Schemes like the Community Energy Fund, or moving to regional pricing, would allow local areas to share in the benefit of infrastructure being built near them.
- Human capital is vital to realising the benefits of investing financial capital. Tens of thousands of additional engineers are needed to deliver the projects currently in the country’s energy pipeline, and even more will be needed to build more infrastructure more quickly. This was a common theme at conference, and the demands for more STEM skills featured in our roundtable discussion with Shadow Education Secretary Damian Hinds.