The UK Energy Minister, Greg Barker, is consulting with solar companies in order to maintain the government’s focus on achieving 10GW of solar power within the next decade. Mr Barker believes that 20GW is achievable and he is intending to embark on a strategy in 2014 to deliver this amount after having assessed industry views on the matter.
“I believe we can go faster and further” Mr Barker said in the government’s new UK Solar PV Strategy document. “Along with many in the industry, I think that up to 20 gigawatts of deployed solar is not only desirable but also potentially achievable within a decade.”
The Energy Minister was also mindful of public opinion with regard to new renewable energy projects, adding that new solar installations must be sensitive to public opinion and consider wider environmental and visual impacts. He said that the impacts of deployment on grid systems balancing, grid connectivity and financial incentives will also have to be considered. Nevertheless, he is hoping to speed up the UK’s progress towards grid parity by working with the industry and assessing where solar power can be competitive with fossil fuels without having to rely on subsidies.
Government ministers have identified solar PV as one of the eight technologies that can help the UK to meet its EU target of 15 percent renewables by 2020. Solar capacity in the UK has risen from 94MW in 2010 according to the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the government is intending to cut emissions by 80 percent up to 2050.
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