UK looks to Texas for investment in energy sector

Edward Davey, Secretary of State for Energy:

Houston is the energy capital of the world. And word has spread internationally that the energy in Texas is far greater than fossil fuels alone. From hydraulic fracturing to wind generation to carbon capture and storage, Texas is a leader in innovation.

Houston is increasingly delivering the low-carbon energy solutions that nations worldwide are seeking, and we in the United Kingdom are no exception. We have long been a partner of choice in Texas with many British energy companies calling Houston home. The U.K. is the largest foreign investor in the state and U.K.-owned businesses are responsible for over 70,000 Texas jobs.

Now, with the U.K. Energy Bill, we are opening a new connection with Texas for partnership in energy prosperity. We have brought forward this major energy legislation to meet the U.K.’s future energy needs. With a significant proportion of the U.K.’s electricity generation capacity set to close over the next decade, the U.K.’s energy sector will need billions in capital investment. This bill puts in place the mechanisms and incentives to attract it.

The Energy Bill offers investors in electricity and low-carbon energy a safe and attractive market in which to invest over the next few decades. Ambitious reforms to the U.K. electricity market will open up around $175 billion of new investment opportunities in renewables, new nuclear, carbon capture and storage (CCS) and gas from now to 2020.

There is clear opportunity for Texas in the new, stable systems that we are implementing through the Energy Bill. The bill introduces both a capacity market and long-term contracts for low carbon generation, giving developers and investors in renewables, new nuclear and CCS the price stability they need to invest in U.K. generation. Representatives from the U.K. Department of Energy and Climate Change will stop in Houston on an upcoming U.S. visit to meet with leaders in the financial and energy industries to discuss the design and implementation of the Energy Bill’s essential reforms.

Texas has a long history of doing business in the U.K. We have an excellent investment climate and an established history of policy support for the low-carbon economy, which places us in a strong position in comparison with other markets. We have already made great progress, with $4
...

The UK has a carbon phobic energy policy that has left them vulnerable to shortages.  By trying to become dependent on so called renewable energy, they have driven up the cost, because they have to build gas generators for backup.  They would be better off concentrating on fracking to develop their own natural gas resources and then using that gas to generate electricity at a reasonable price.  There are many Texas companies that would be interested in such a development.  It beats tilting at windmills, and trying to get solar through the London fog.