SEMLEP is to connect national energy experts from government, local councils and business to agree energy priorities to pursue the fast-growth, clean-growth ambitions for the South East Midlands.
The South East Midlands Energy Strategy will ensure planned housing and business growth is powered in line with commitments to cut emissions and improve energy efficiency.
Constraints to energy supply and distribution are already identified as restricting business growth. Scenarios outlined in the strategy, based on forecast growth, suggest that electricity demand could rise by 130 per cent by 2050.
The South East Midlands – which includes Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and Luton, Milton Keynes and Aylesbury Vale is recognised as the place that will lead Britain’s economic growth in the future. A key part of the Oxford-Cambridge Arc, this wider Arc area is expected to deliver up to one million new homes and 1.1m new jobs by 2050.
Priority actions set out in the new energy strategy look at how to address energy supply and distribution issues, mapped against demand and new technologies to help avoid these constraints for business.
It will also set out actions to allow the South East Midlands to rise to the challenge of decarbonising heating, through the rollout of low carbon heat networks and greater heat efficiency of buildings.
Dr Kerry Mashford OBE, SEMLEP Board member said: “Across the SEMLEP area, ensuring that sufficient clean, decarbonised energy is available to fuel the high growth projected in business activity and population, is already a challenge. This will continue to be the case against a background of decarbonisation and systemic change in the energy sector.
With the South East Midlands Energy Strategy, we have set the basis for understanding and meeting this challenge, and we now look forward to working with energy network operators, energy suppliers, business and public sector stakeholders on an ongoing basis to ensure the SEMLEP area takes advantage of the clean growth opportunities that the energy system transformation provides and has energy where and when it’s needed.”