As a fifth of our power stations are closing over the next decade, it is vital that we urgently incentivise a range of technologies to ensure the UK has enough energy to meet its needs.
The Government is committed to decarbonising the UK's energy supplies, but this must be at the lowest overall cost for consumers. The UK's tough emissions and renewable targets currently provide a solid overall policy framework, and we are pushing through ambitious reforms to overhaul existing old fossil fuel plants and replace them with new low carbon generation.
The new Energy Bill will put a fair price on carbon, providing a stronger incentive to invest in low carbon generation now. As part of this Bill, powers to set a decarbonisation target range for 2030 will be brought forward in secondary legislation. However, a decision on this will only be taken once the Climate Change Committee has provided advice in 2016 on the 5th Carbon Budget which covers the corresponding period. It is right to consider the target in terms of the prevailing circumstances at the time, and in the context of the economy as a whole to which decarbonisation of the sector is inextricably linked.
Nonetheless, I can assure you that the UK will retain its status as a great place to do low-carbon business. The Energy Bill will support the UK's thriving low-carbon sector, which is currently worth £122 billion and employs close to a million people. The Energy Bill will help stimulate competition for long term clean energy contracts. It will be driving innovation, raising productivity, and giving new UK industries like manufacturing for offshore wind and Carbon Capture and Storage a lucrative market in the UK.
Alongside this, the Government has established Europe's first Green Investment Bank, pioneered a ground-breaking new energy efficiency scheme, the Green Deal, and added more capacity for renewables than at any time over the last decade.