Supplementary memorandum by EDF Energy
EVIDENCE TAKEN BY THE ECONOMIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
ON 13 MAY 2008
I would be very grateful if you would treat
this letter as evidence to the Committee in relation to its current
inquiry into the Economics of Renewable Energy.
On 13 May the Committee took oral evidence from,
amongst others, Benet Northcote of Greenpeace. In his evidence,
at Q79, Mr Northcote claimed that the Chief Executive of EDF Energy,
Vincent de Rivaz, had said that, if carbon commanded a high price,
and that fostered an increase in investment in renewables, it
might "crowd out' investment in nuclear power. He went onto
say that "they (EDF Energy) very much saw it as a threat
to their industry".
Unfortunately the evidence that you received
is not in any way an accurate reflection of what Mr de Rivaz has
said on this matter or the view of EDF Energy. The comments suggest
that Mr de Rivaz has voiced opposition to renewables, whereas
on the contrary, it is on public record that EDF Energy believes
renewables are an important part of the generation mix.
We understand that the witness is referring
to speeches where Mr de Rivaz has stated our belief that the carbon
market is the most effective way to encourage investment in low
carbon generating capacity. This market places the onus on industry
to identify and put in place the most effective means of delivering
the country's targets for carbon emission reductions.
We do not believe that setting targets for a
particular technology will be as effective: in fact it could undermine
the carbon market. This would threaten investment in other forms
of low carbon technology and might not deliver a low carbon generation
mix. We therefore strongly believe that an efficient and effective
carbon market will allow investment in renewables to occur, alongside
investment in nuclear and in other low carbon technologies.
EDF Energy is already a significant investor
in renewables technologies. We operate onshore wind farms in the
North East and with a portfolio of around 120MW of on and offshore
wind projects under construction or in advanced development. We
recently announced the creation of EDF Energy Renewables, a joint
venture with EDF Energies Nouvelles, to spearhead our renewables
development activities in the UK.
EDF Energy Renewables will be critical to meeting
the commitment that we made last year to invest by 2012 in 1,000
MW of UK renewable energy production. Globally, EDF Group is investing
€3.3 billion in renewables by 2010.
I hope that this clarifies the evidence given
to the Committee on 13 May.
Denis Linford
Director of Regulation
15 July 2008
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