Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the evidential basis is for the statement in paragraph 2.1 of his Departmental annual report 2013-14, HC9, published on 26 June 2014, that investment in cleaner energy infrastructure will help support up to 250,000 jobs by 2020.

We estimate that investment in new, cleaner energy infrastructure through the government's Electricity Market Reforms will help support up to 250,000 jobs by 2020. This reflects estimates of how many jobs could be supported by electricity generated using renewable, nuclear, and carbon capture and storage technologies, and includes jobs in the relevant supply chains.

In nuclear energy, we estimate there will be between 69,000 and 81,000 jobs by 2020. This is made up of 29,000-41,000 jobs across the nuclear supply chain at the peak of construction activity, from the 16GW of new build capacity industry is planning to build by 2030, in addition to the 40,000 people currently employed in nuclear energy.¹

We also estimate that up to 200,000 jobs could be supported in renewable electricity by 2020. This estimate is based on the Renewable Energy Association's estimate of employment in the sector in 2012/13², and a range of possible deployment levels in 2020 as set out in the Government's Electricity Market Reform Delivery Plan.3

Within the carbon capture and storage sector, we estimate that around 8,000 jobs could be supported in the early stages of deployment by 2020.⁴

[1] The Economic Benefits of the UK's Nuclear Supply Chain Capabilities, Oxford Economics, 2013 (A report commissioned for DECC) https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/168017/bis-13-633-the-economic-benefit-of-improving-the-uk-nuclear-supply-chain-capabilities.pdf

2 REVIEW – Renewable Energy View 2013, Renewable Energy Association, April 2014 (http://www.r-e-a.net/resources/rea-publications).

3 EMR Delivery Plan, DECC, 2013 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electricity-market-reform-delivery-plan)

4 DECC estimate DECC estimate based on AEA analysis – Assessing the domestic supply chain barriers to the commercial deployment of carbon capture and storage within the power sector (2013). https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/assessing-the-domestic-supply-chain-barriers-to-the-commercial-deployment-of-carbon-capture-and-storage-within-the-power-sector