Why the UK urgently needs a strategic, long-term integrated energy plan

Recently, the Alderley Group of companies, led by their CEO Colin Elcoate, launched their Five Point Plan for the UK Energy Industry Supply Chain in collaboration with resourcing specialists, Applica Resourcing. The aim of the Plan is to highlight the key elements required to enable the supply chain to prosper in 2023 as the UK builds towards a Net Zero energy system.

The Plan calls for much greater collaboration between the government and industry, greater incentives for localisation and job creation, as well as clearer articulation of the milestones that the supply chain and UK energy sector must take to contribute to the goal of Net Zero. The Alderley Group believes that by stimulating an open discussion about the value of the supply chain, the UK energy sector as a whole will be in a stronger place to drive towards Net Zero in 2050 and ensure that the country remains a leader in global energy.

According to Elcoate, the energy transition provides a once-in-a-century opportunity for the energy sector to be reconfigured. However, the vision of a world based on renewables and low-carbon technology should not blind us from the fact that now and for the foreseeable future, we will need to consider all energy forms as part of a balanced energy mix and a managed transition.

The Alderley Group believes that revenues from the hydrocarbons sector will ultimately fund the energy transition. Therefore, it is better to support this key strategic sector and use the proceeds to fund the energy transition rather than slowly strangle the UK’s oil and gas sector through windfall taxes and a lack of clarity. This requires an urgent, strategic UK energy plan that stretches across the existing hydrocarbon and low-carbon portfolio. Currently, the UK doesn’t have an integrated plan and promotes ‘pilot projects’ with little commitment beyond, which does not foster a stable environment for investment.

The Alderley Group recommends an integrated strategic plan for the energy industry and its supply chain to enable us to map and respond to the emerging landscape of jobs, skills and talent. They believe that we need to evaluate the transferrable skills and capabilities that we have so that we can answer the needs of the transforming energy mix and roadmap to 2050. Without this, the UK will have to revert to international supply chains. The Alderley Group calls for much greater government support not just for large- and small UK companies but for mid-sized businesses like theirs, which collectively make up the majority of the industry’s specialisms and capabilities.

The UK must double-down on carbon-capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) as the skills of the existing oil and gas workforce are highly relatable and transferrable. The £20 billion announced for CCUS in the Spring.