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UK accused of blocking green grid
24 July, 2008The UK has been accused of making an EU directive to promote renewable energy weaker, it has been reported.
The UK has been accused of making an EU directive to promote renewable energy weaker, it has been reported.
Luxembourg MEP Claude Turmes has thrown the allegation at Gordon Brown after the UK attempted to amend the recent directive that called for governments to give priority to renewables in their power grids.
The prime minister and his government was criticised for trying to push for a change in the terminology of one key sentence; that governments "shall" give priority access to green energy.
The UK government however wanted this changed to say that governments "can" give priority to green power if they so wish.
Discussing the British attempt to amend the EU directive, Mr Turmes said: "This would take us backwards and would weaken the possibilities of connecting renewable energy to the grid.
"A government that says it wants to promote renewables cannot go for other policies behind the scenes."
Earlier this year a House of Commons Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills committee reported the "frustration" of renewable companies that had secured almost 10 gigawatt of power but were not connected to the grid.
The long, drawn-out sale of British Energy (BE) to EDF Energy has come to an end after the French energy firm bought BE for £12.5 billion, it has been reported.
Government hopes to have an EDF Energy-British Energy (BE) tie up within two weeks have been dubbed "optimistic" by the British nuclear company, according to a recent report.
Gordon Brown is facing the prospect of a major defeat over the government's reluctance to impose a windfall tax on energy companies, it has been reported.
The City of London has launched a campaign against Gordon Brown in order to convince him that introducing a windfall tax on energy companies should be avoided.
TaylorWimpey has reported phenomenally poor first half results for the year so far, recording a loss of £1.5 billion, it has been announced.