The Climate Change Committee (CCC)’s June Progress Report to Parliament, recommends that the government develop policies for industrial electrification that address general barriers such as investment constraints, as well as specific barriers for different industrial sub-sectors.
The CCC urged the government to introduce funding for research and development in industrial electrification, and to provide greater levels of funding for industrial electrification – covering both capex and opex costs - consistent with the support available for hydrogen and carbon capture and storage (CCS).
This advice from the CCC builds on previous recommendations and the Government has been listening. In July, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) launched a call for evidence on industrial electrification. The consultation was split into two parts, the first sought information on general barriers and enablers, whilst the second sought site-specific information.
CIA worked with its Energy and Climate Change Policy Network to inform our response to the first part of the call. The DESNZ policy team behind the consultation joined our Network meeting in September, to present their thoughts and to take questions and feedback direct from members. Off the back of that meeting, CIA submitted a response to government highlighting the issues relating to electricity price and competitiveness, as well as the particular challenges faced by high heat processes, and recommending measures to help enable industrial electrification where it makes sense to do so. We also encouraged member sites to complete and submit their own return to this second part of the call, and hope you were able to do so. The consultation closed in October and we now await the government’s response.
