Caroline Bragg, Chief Executive Officer, ADE:
“Today’s Spring Budget only confirms what the whole of industry know: jobs, infrastructure and energy security must be at the forefront of decision-making.
“Securing growth in these areas will be vastly dependent on important decisions facing the energy sector over the coming years, and what’s needed to deliver on this growth is strong signals from Government. More decisive action and strengthened support for our sector will mean Government and industry can unite to truly deliver lower bills, champion jobs, and promote economic growth.”

Beatrice Barleon, Head of Policy and Public Affairs, EngineeringUK:
“The Chancellor’s recognition of the importance of investing in skills through a new training package for up to 60,000 new construction workers is welcome and essential to delivering on the Government’s growth mission, which is underpinned by plans to build 1.5 million homes and to strengthen the UK’s national security.
“EngineeringUK is calling on the Government to go further in the Spending Review and Autumn Budget later this year and look to address the financial barriers to technical and vocational entry routes into engineering and technology for all young people”.

Anthony Ainsworth, Chief Operating Officer, npower Business Solutions:
“From an energy perspective, all eyes were on the Chancellor to see if the rumoured budget cuts to Great British Energy (GB Energy) would become a reality. Many were also hoping that she would counter the recent challenges to the 2050 net zero target by the Conservative Leader, Kemi Badenoch.
“While energy and net zero did not feature as a headline in the Statement, the Chancellor was keen to stress the importance of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, and the positive growth forecast by the OBR as a result of the reforms.
“It will be a vital piece of legislation to drive towards our clean power by 2030 target, with our own research revealing that planning was the top area where businesses would like to see red tape cut.”

Barnaby Wharton, Director of Future Electricity Systems, RenewableUK:
“We’re delighted to see this reform, which will help to reduce the cost of green hydrogen for businesses and billpayers. Our Splitting the Difference report released in January highlighted the case for exempting electricity used to make green hydrogen from the Climate Change Levy as part of a package of measures to cut green hydrogen production costs by 58%, so we welcome today’s announcement by the Chancellor that she will take forward this key recommendation.
“Green hydrogen generated in high-tech electrolysers using renewable electricity has an important role to play in decarbonising sectors like steel, chemicals and shipping, which are hard to electrify. It can add vital flexibility to our energy system, as it can be stored and used whenever it’s needed, providing long-duration energy storage which helps to balance and strengthen our energy system by making the best use of the vast quantities of electricity we’re now generating from renewables.
“Other measures are also needed to speed up the roll-out of this innovative technology, such as removing barriers to enable green hydrogen producers to co-locate their projects alongside renewable energy generators which already have planning consent to cut costs and reduce delays. We also need to see an ambitious strategy to develop a hydrogen transmission network, with pipelines linking Scotland to England and Wales to optimise the availability of green hydrogen”.

Greg Jackson, Founder and CEO, Octopus Energy:
“It’s good to see the focus on planning and other reforms that can unlock investment to help make Britain more productive and drive growth. We were also pleased to see the receipts from the government’s sale of Bulb to Octopus funding 36,000 homes for armed forces families. It’s a sign of how business and government can work together for the good of the country.”