A new £22bn plan to help tackle climate change and support regional growth has been unveiled by the UK Infrastructure Bank, with clean energy highlighted as the largest sector for investment.
While launching the plan, alongside celebrations of the bank’s first birthday, the bank’s CEO Mr John Flint labelled energy security and supply as a “top priority”, which in turn will help to deliver the country’s Net Zero goals. Other important sectors for investment include transport, digital, water and waste, infrastructure and new technologies.
John Flint said:
“We want our investments to shape the future and, for the first time, we’re highlighting where we expect the biggest investment opportunities will be to deliver on our mission to tackle climate change and regional inequalities.
“The war in Ukraine is an economic earthquake that underlines our mission and the strategic importance of energy security to the UK’s economic future. Rising energy bills also show how in the long-term we need to increase our domestic supply of energy.
“We cannot achieve this alone. Across the breadth of our mission we want to work with partners in the public and private sector to identify where our investment can make the most impact.”
The government-owned bank, unveiled by Chancellor Rishi Sunak as part of his 2021 budget, is looking to deploy its £22 billion of financing capacity over the next 5-8 years. It will support infrastructure challenges, such as the EV charging network and building retrofits, as well as renewable energy projects and new technologies such as hydrogen and carbon capture, usage & storage (CCUS).
Clean energy areas of investment include:
- Renewable energy – the continued development of mature technologies and support for the new heat and power generating solutions
- Energy storage
- Clean energy projects such as hydrogen and CCUS
- EV charging infrastructure
- Energy from waste plants
The full Strategic plan is available to download here.
