Defining our policy on renewable energy trading
Read the full outcome
Detail of outcome
In April 2012 the Government published a Call for Evidence on Renewable Energy Trading. This was intended to understand the:
- availability and potential for trading renewable effort with other Member States and third countries, including the potential to export renewable energy and credits
- potential costs, benefits and risks to the UK of making use of the flexibility mechanisms to trade renewables.
- issues and barriers which will need to be addressed to enable renewables trading.
DECC received 36 responses to the Call for Evidence on Renewable Energy Trading. The government response has now been published. It concludes that:
- Importing renewable electricity could help the UK meet its 2020 renewable energy target.
- There is little doubt that physically importing renewable electricity has real potential. The potential for statistical trading of ‘virtual’ renewable credit is less certain at this stage.
- We need to conduct further work to establish the practical viability of physical renewable energy trading. This work will be finalised towards the end of the year and will inform final decision-making on how best to take the policy forward.
Original consultation
Consultation description
The UK committed in the Renewable Energy Roadmap, published Summer 2011, to take the powers necessary to trade renewable energy with other Member States and third countries.
Although the UK is committed to meeting the 2020 target domestically, trading has the potential to protect UK consumers from cost and delivery risks.
A final policy decision on whether trading will take place has not yet been taken and this call for evidence is intended to improve our understanding to better inform this decision.