The Energy Technologies Institute’s peer-reviewed model of the UK’s national energy system (the Energy System Modelling Environment or ‘ESME’), enables policy-neutral analysis of optimal energy system choices to meet the UK’s 2050 carbon targets.
• A ‘next generation’ phase from the mid 2030s onwards where key low carbon technologies will need to be improved and optimised.
This paper will focus on identifying and assessing the costs of delivering the preparedness phase for the UK, during which major policy support will be required to support the early development and deployment of the key low carbon energy options. The paper will explore and present approaches to estimating these ‘policy costs’ of delivering genuine preparedness by the mid 2020s.
The paper will present key learnings from the assembly of evidence and compare against the UK’s current pattern of policy support for the development of low carbon technologies (e.g. through the levy control framework). The paper will draw out broad conclusions on the current mechanisms for allocating resources between technologies (e.g. through the electricity market reform delivery plan and other mechanisms), and identify potential approaches to rebalancing policy support for the ‘preparedness’ phase of UK decarbonisation.
Energy policy, modelling, scenarios, low carbon technology.