Saturday, October 12, 2024
EnergyLatestNews

BEAMA report highlights opportunity and risk

Trade body for energy infrastructure and systems BEAMA has launched its Market Pulse quarterly report, highlighting the opportunities and risks to the sector.

The analysis, which showed the £1 trillion opportunity, reveals the supply chain is “poised to deliver” the increase in demand for low carbon heating and electric vehicles (EVs), but investment intensions are still “significantly lower” than 12 months ago – and fall short of the UK’s electrification needs.

As a result, it has impacted the attractiveness of investment into the UK for net zero. However, it has also reported that the net zero supply chain is “optimistic” for the future.

It comes as BEAMA is growing its #AcceleratingElectrification campaign, seeking to foster sustainable growth and investment within the UK electrical supply chain.

The campaign highlights how supply chains require five to seven year horizons to plan manufacturing capacity and supply a competitive global market for low carbon technologies.

Key findings of the report include:

  1. A “modest increase in investment intentions meaning “far greater certainty” is required.
  2. Supply chain capacity utilisation edged lower below five-year average, while some parts of the supply chain for electricity networks report operating at full capacity.
  3. Manufacturing unit costs hit a four-year low with energy, shipping and labour costs having a greater impact than materials.
  4. 50% of BEAMA members report an intention to hire more employees, but challenges in filling vacancies remain ongoing.
  5. UK needs to increase heat pump uptake up by 16 times the current delivery rates to hit 2030 targets.
  6. UK is 11 years away from having a complete smart metering system
  7. Innovators operating in heat electrification are struggling to commercialise at scale.

Yselkla Farmer, BEAMA CEO, said: 

“A gap continues to grow between the projected energy sector investment needed to meet our targets and the current rate of deployment.

“Optimism and confidence are far from where they need to be, and without urgent clarity, UK manufacturing of these vital technologies will struggle to meet future demand.

“The choice is clear, risk becoming reliant on supply chains outside of the UK or capitalise on the huge potential to grow this economic opportunity and build on the current £5bn of exports we currently maintain.”

Kelly Becker, president at Schneider Electric, UK & Ireland, Belgium & Netherlands said:

“This milestone investment in our new Scarborough factory demonstrates Schneider Electric’s unwavering commitment to the UK market and support for the nation’s decarbonisation journey through the development of innovative solutions and the creation of local, green jobs.

“As we continue to expand our presence, we look forward to collaborating with BEAMA and the UK government to place accelerating electrification at the forefront of UK policy.”

Erika Wilson, CEO of Wilson Power Solutions Ltd, commented: 

“We are still lacking the certainty and clear market drivers for electrification which will incentivise manufacturers to engage and commit to this market.

“Alongside our BEAMA supply chain partners, we are committed to working closely with the new Labour Government to develop a plan that gives clarity to the supply chain to be confident to invest in their facilities and people to support the path to Net Zero.”

Image from Shutterstock

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