Go green or go home – it's now or never

A number of the world's most prominent energy companies have denoted that unless the government commits to the renewable energies sector and decarbonisation, millions of pounds of investment could be lost.

In a letter to Ed Davey – obtained by The Times – seven electricity and nuclear companies, Siemens, Vestas, Gamesa, Alstom UK, Mitsubishi Power Systems, Doosan and Areva, have called for "a binding 2030 target for power sector decarbonisation" in order to "reduce the political risk currently associated with long-term industrial investment".

There has been a push for the government to commit to the sector, especially after cuts to the Feed in Tariff were announced earlier this year which saw a decline in the number of domestic solar panel projects being installed.

In order to reaffirm investors' faith in the country's energy sector – which has generally been regarded as having "low political risk for energy investments" – the letter commented: "Undermining that reputation would have damaging consequences for the scale of future investments in the UK energy sector."

Gaynor Hartnell, Chief Executive of the Renewable Energy Association (REA), commented: "Today's letters from the business community warn that a failure to commit to green growth will cost the UK dearly. This builds on reports earlier this year by the Confederation of British Industry (which explained the green growth imperative) and ourselves (which revealed the potential for 400,000 jobs in renewables by 2020).

"It is now or never for the coalition government. We have the resource potential and engineering and financial expertise to be a global leader in renewables – but a lack of clarity from government risks leaving us stuck at the back of the pack."

This call for action by the seven companies and the REA will hopefully see the government outlining key, definitive goals in the near future, in order to secure the future of the UK's energy sector.

Ms Hartnell concluded: "Mainstream businesses, from our supermarkets to the big blue chip tech firms, know that renewables are the way forward for UK plc. This is not about saving the planet, it’s about businesses planning for the future and maintaining their competitiveness in the 21st century."