Three South West Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) have pledged to make clean growth and energy a strategic economic priority for the region.
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly, Dorset, and the Heart of the South West LEPs have all agreed to adopt a new South West Energy Strategy with a common vision to create an energy future that is low carbon and more affordable, maximising and retaining benefits in the region.
Given the right level of investment and strategic backing from central Government – which last week pledged net zero carbon emissions for the UK by 2050 – the strategy has potential to significantly reduce fuel poverty in the South West, generate 80% low carbon electricity, attract more than £100 billion of investment, create up to 192,000 jobs and contribute up to £10bn of GVA by 2030.
Clean growth and energy have been identified by the Government as important enablers of economic growth within its Industrial Strategy.
Forecasts show that the UK clean growth sector could grow by an estimated 11% per year between 2015 and 2030 – four times faster than the rest of the economy – and could deliver between £60 billion and £170 billion of export sales of goods and services by 2030.
