Public support for renewables-led recovery surges, as new study highlights flexible grid opportunities

The public overwhelming supports proposals for a renewables-led recovery from the coronavirus crisis, expressing "sky high" support for new onshore wind developments and an accelerated transition to clean energy infrastructure.

That is the conclusion of a YouGov poll of 1,700 people commissioned by trade body RenewableUK, which asked people which of the 10 areas set out in the Prime Minister's 10 Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution should be prioritised by the government.

The 10 Point Plan was released last autumn and set out a series of priority areas for the government, including advancing offshore wind, driving the growth of low carbon hydrogen, delivering new nuclear power, accelerating the shift to zero emission vehicles, expanding green public transport, cycling, and walking, the development of 'jet zero' green aviation technologies and green ships, greener buildings, investing in carbon capture and storage, protecting our natural environment, and expanding the green finance sector.

When asked to rank the Prime Minister's proposals into the top five areas the government should be investing in, five times as many people supported the prioritisation of renewable energy as their top choice than any other green industry.  

Support is particularly strong among people over the age of 65, the poll found, with 75 per cent of older people ranking renewable energy in their top three priorities for government investment.

The polling also revealed that support for prioritising renewable energy is marginally higher among people who live within five miles of a wind farm than those who do not, at 49 per cent compared to 46 per cent. As such, overall support for building more onshore wind farms remains overwhelming high at 70 per cent - with levels of support exactly the same among people who live within five miles of a wind farm as those living elsewhere.

"It's great to see overwhelming public support for the government prioritising investment in renewable energy," said RenewableUK's deputy chief executive Melanie Onn. "This will in turn attract billions in private investment as well as creating thousands of high quality green jobs."

The government recently moved to improve the policy environment for onshore wind projects by lifting a ban on onshore wind and solar projects competing for government-backed clean power contracts through its contract for difference (CfD) subsidy regime.

However, the industry has argued that stringent planning rules continue to hamper the development pipeline, while there are fears that a failure to fast track CfD auctions could slow the pace of new renewables developments that are likely to prove essential to meeting the UK's net zero targets.

"You can see the popularity of renewables reflected in attitudes to onshore wind," Onn said. "The popularity of this technology is sky-high, with a third of the country saying they like onshore wind more than they did five years ago. We're urging Ministers to recognise this wave of public support for renewables by maximising investment in the UK's 'shovel ready' clean energy projects in the next round of CfD auctions and setting ambitious long-term targets for onshore wind, floating wind, renewable hydrogen and marine energy. Committing to clear milestones on the route to net zero is the best way to show global leadership on climate change in the run-up to the COP26 summit which the UK is hosting this year, we well as assuring our supply chain that the UK is the right place to invest."

The results of the poll comes on the same day as a major new industry-backed analysis from consultancy Carbon Trust and academics at Imperial College London, which detailed how the development of a flexible energy system could enable a huge expansion in renewables capacity while slashing the cost of meeting the UK's net zero targets by up to £16.7bn a year in 2050.

Hailed as the "most in-depth analysis" to date of the potential for flexible grid technologies such as energy storage systems and demand response services, the report argues that investing in flexible grid capacity represents a "no-regrets decision" for businesses and policymakers that will deliver significant cost and environmental benefits.

The report explored how flexibility can help deliver a net zero transition under three different heat decarbonisation scenarios that see differing levels of electric heating, hydrogen heating and hybrid heating technologies deployed. It found that there is a need to embed flexibility across all energy sectors - power, heat, and transport - to cut the cost of decarbonisation, and that embedding flexibility in low carbon heat and transport solutions now will help reduce the system impact and cost of decarbonisation.

It also stressed that flexibility services are critical to enhancing grid security so that reliable zero carbon power can be delivered cost-effectively in diverse situations such as, cold, still winter periods and summer solar excesses, while reducing Great Britain's reliance on back-up gas-fired generation.

However, the report highlighted how delivering flexible grid services at scale is likely to require that flexibility is treated as a core infrastructure challenge and is integrated into low carbon generation, network planning and heat and transport decarbonisation strategies.

"Flexibility is vital to unlock value and it is the most important 'no regrets' action that can be taken as the UK moves to decarbonise heat, transport and industry, saving billions in investment and operating costs," said Tom Delay, chief executive at the Carbon Trust. "It's critically important that industry, business, consumers and the public sector understand the value of flexibility and the benefits that flexibility brings to the British economy. Flexibility always delivers - we should invest in it now."