ENERGY Secretary Ed Miliband’s potty plan to try to make Britain Net Zero by 2030 could cost a massive £300billion, a report warns.
Offshore wind and solar panels will demand at least £20billion a year and the roll-out of electric vehicles up to an annual £5billion, a taskforce says.
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A National Wealth Fund for infrastructure project has £7.3billion of Treasury backing and the planned Great British Energy company will be putting £8.3billion into the mission.
The Capital Markets Industry Taskforce (CMIT) reckons the Government’s ambition of making a transition to Net Zero would require between £35billion and £50billion every year until 2030.
Leading industry figures have already said they believe far more investment will be necessary to meet Mr Miliband’s planned spending sprees on wind turbines and solar generators — and warn the cost will eventually be lumped on household bills.
The CMIT’s Sir Nigel Wilson said: “The UK is fortunate in that we have £6trillion of long-term capital within our pension and insurance industries.
“In other words, the supply of capital for growth is available.”
However Sir Nigel, the former Legal & General boss, said there will be a problem raising the money because pension funds put less than four per cent of their investments in British equities — and there is a reluctance to back domestic investment.
Conservative Party energy spokeswoman Claire Coutinho said yesterday: “Ed Miliband said that his mad dash for a zero-carbon grid by 2030 is going to cut bills.
“However, his plans come with an enormous price tag, just as Labour are sending business investors fleeing.
“That means it’s ordinary households who will pay the price for his eco-fanaticism.”
