UK Renewable Energy Strategy 2009

Under the EU Renewable Energy Directive, the UK has signed up to a legally binding EU target of producing 15 per cent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. The 2009 UK Renewable Energy Strategy set out the government’s plans for ensuring the UK meets its EU target. By sector, the government estimates that this means 30 per cent of electricity, 12 per cent of heat and 10 per cent of transport energy will need to come from renewable sources.

The package of measures set out in Renewable Energy Strategy 2009 to support achievement of those targets includes:

• changes to the Renewables Obligation for large-scale renewable generation
• changes to the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation to increase use of sustainable biofuels 
• the introduction of a Renewable Heat Incentive to support renewable heat, from large industrial sites down to the household level, through payments per kWh of heat produced from April 2011
• introduction of Feed-in Tariffs to offer financial support for the generation of low carbon electricity from projects up to 5MW from April 2010
• the establishment of the Office for Renewable Energy Deployment (ORED) to support renewables’ supply chains and renewables in the planning system
• greater support for developing key renewable technologies, through for example increased investment in wave and tidal generation and improvements to offshore wind technologies
• identifying the south west as a Low Carbon Economic Zone for marine development