He will also announce government contracts by UK Green Investments (UKGI), which is based at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, to provide £100 million of initial funding to specialist fund managers Equitix and Sustainable Development Capital (SDCL). The fund managers will be actively encouraging foreign and domestic investment in NDEE projects, alongside UK Government funds. The Government investments pave the way for the UK Green Investment Bank (UK GIB), which is expected to open later this year following state aid approval.
The message will come in the Deputy Prime Minister’s speech opening the Government’s British Business Embassy on Energy at Lancaster House. Today’s summit is the first of two days focusing on energy that are among 18 global business summits being organised by UK Trade & Investment over the course of the Olympic Games.
The Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said: “The UK is the sixth largest market in low carbon goods and environmental services and this Coalition Government is unreservedly committed to helping our low carbon sector thrive. We seek nothing less than a clean, green, low carbon economy.
“There is a global energy revolution underway. And the UK is not going to be left behind. We’re leading from the front. Together we find ourselves at the vanguard of one of the most dynamic, most innovative, most important industries of our time; an industry whose breakthroughs and endeavours will shape our societies for years to come; an industry that will help us build a more stable, more sustainable, more prosperous world.”
Renewable energy could deliver between 30 and 45 per cent of the UK’s energy by 2030. Today’s summit will focus on UK energy infrastructure, addressing the conversion, distribution and use of energy through the ecosystem. Particular attention will be paid to the technology areas that will make the most significant contribution to decarbonising the power sector.
Among the speakers are Sam Laidlaw, Chief executive of Centrica; Steve Holliday, CEO, National Grid PLC; Keith Howells, Chairman of Mott MacDonald; and Humphrey Cadoux-Hudson, Managing Director of Nuclear New Build at EDF Energy.
UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Edward Davey, who is also speaking at the event, said:
“The UK Government is taking the necessary steps to develop a secure, clean energy mix, and this is opening up massive, long-term investment opportunities.
“Whether it’s our surging renewables sector or North Sea oil and gas exploration, new nuclear power or carbon capture and storage, there has never been a more exciting time to be in the UK energy sector.
“Britain is one of the easiest places to do business in the world and I am determined to maintain our reputation as a stable destination for energy investment.”
