“Firstly we need to fill some obvious gaps, most notably in the heat market where Government has no effective incentives for renewable heat and combined heat and power”, says Mr. Wolfe.

“We need better support for new clean energy technologies, particularly offshore wind, biomass, solar and marine renewables. This must not destabilise the established market for biogas and onshore wind, so the REA believes this may be better done through transitional revenue support.

“We are pleased to see Government seems to be taking up our suggestion on streamlining the planning process”, said Mr Wolfe. “They also need to set a framework to guarantee connections to the transmission network”.

“Government has seen the light on renewable energy – but we still need to plug it in and switch it on”.