Northern businesses call on Government to trust region to lead path to net zero

Yesterday 15 leading businesses, 11 Local Enterprise Partnerships and the CBI signed an open letter asking the Government to back the North and meet with leaders to discuss how the region can play a leading role in boosting economic growth.

It comes after a recent report estimates that £6 billion of value can be unlocked across the North of England by investment in leadership and collaboration.

Following the publication of the Government’s Energy Strategy last week, industry leaders from businesses including Siemens, Orsted, Peel, Drax and Equinor, delivered the letter to the Prime Minister, Chancellor, and Energy Secretary.

“The signatories of this letter believe that our country is at a critical juncture,” the letter said.

“Just as the North led national growth in the first Industrial Revolution, and transformed the future of the country, we can and will lead the transition towards low carbon energy, generating a surplus of secure clean energy and reaping economic rewards.”

It comes after East Yorkshire missed out on key carbon capture technology projects, with other areas of the country getting the green light for investment from the Government last week.

James Newman OBE, Chair of Hull and East Yorkshire LEP, said: “The North is already pioneering industry-leading work in areas such as carbon capture and storage (CCS), hydrogen, nuclear, offshore wind, tidal power and low carbon “jet zero” aviation fuels.

“There is ambition to go even further, and a fantastic business case to harness the ground-breaking work already underway to deliver tangible levelling up.

The North offers the Government a ready-made solution to ensure the UK can grab a significant share of the economic growth that’s on the table with 90 per cent of the world’s GDP now committed to net zero.”

It comes as it was revealed that Drax, which was one of the companies that missed out on funding for carbon capture projects last week, is currently subject to an audit by the energy regulator after questions were raised over the sustainability of its biomass energy.

It was reported yesterday that the North Yorkshire company could face losing billions in Government subsidies as Ofgem started a probe into its projects.

It comes after Drax faced allegations of “greenwashing” following a BBC Panorama investigation which claimed the company was logging virgin forests in Canada to make wood pellets to use in its plant, despite claiming that the majority of its pellets came from sawdust.

Ofgem have since begun an additional assessment audit following the revelations.

A Drax spokesperson said: “We frequently receive information requests from Ofgem and they also undertake regular audits of Drax to ensure our adherence to our obligations under the Renewables Obligation Certificates (ROCs) and Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin Certificates (REGOs).

“Any recent information requests that Ofgem has made to us have not been undertaken using formal investigative powers. We take all requests from Ofgem very seriously and are committed to ensuring the biomass we source delivers positive outcomes for the climate, for nature and for the communities in which we operate.”

Yesterday Drax’s CEO, Will Gardiner confirmed that he has stepped down from his role as a board member of the Sustainable Biomass Program (SBP).

The SBP provides independent certification for biomass used in energy production, which suppliers use as evidence of their sustainability.

It is understood that this was a personal decision of Mr Gardiner, and had been in the works before the revelation of the probe by Ofgem.