UK Energy White Paper - response from Vattenfall, low-carbon heat and power producer

Initiatives highlighted in the white paper include investing in hydrogen, rolling out Electric Vehicle charge points, and phasing out gas boilers.

Responding, Mike Reynolds, Managing Director of Vattenfall Heat UK, said:

“These are ambitious targets which will set the UK well on the way to completely decarbonising its energy system.

“But it’s vital that the infrastructure which will enable all of this to happen in time - namely electricity networks - is not overlooked. We need significant upgrades to create a truly smart grid. Unless we get this part right, networks won’t be able to cope with the huge amounts of onshore and offshore renewable electricity we will be generating, or enable other crucial innovations like electrification of transport.

“How we phase out gas boilers also requires more careful consideration. 600,000 heat pumps is less than half the number of conventional gas boilers installed last year, while we have more heat being wasted than there is overall heat demand in major cities like London. Removing emissions from heating relies on us making better use of waste heat from all sources and installing the right technologies in the areas of the country where they will be most effective.”

More on the Energy White Paper here. 

Notes

1.67 million gas boilers were installed in 2019. Source: installeronline.co.uk