Elmhurst responds to Northern Ireland Energy Strategy

FEATURE

www.elmhurstenergy.co.uk Elmhurst fully supports the transition towards a cleaner, more sustainable future for the people living and working in Northern Ireland.

Stuart Fairlie, Technical and Operations Director

Elmhurst has submitted its response to the consultation on policy options for the new Energy Strategy for Northern Ireland.

The consultation, which was released back in March, establishes options to decarbonise Northern Ireland's energy sector by 2050. The country’s vision for net zero carbon and affordable energy has been split into five key principles which include:

1. Grow a Green Economy invest in green innovation, develop low carbon skills, maximise the economic impact of energy policies. 2. Do more with less - set clear direction for energy efficiency,

educate consumers about energy efficiency and provide support to help them invest in improvements. 3. Replace fossil fuels with renewable energydecarbonise power, heat and transport. 4. Create a flexible and integrated energy system- ensure flexible markets and infrastructure, develop smart and digitised energy systems. 5. Placing you at the heart of our energy future - enable and protect consumers, make energy simple, ensure affordability and fairness Elmhurst fully supports the transition towards a cleaner, more sustainable future for the people living and working in Northern Ireland.

We thank our members for helping shape our response which can be summarised as follows.

Northern Ireland needs to:

plan to give certainty n Have no more ‘stop-start’ policies n Have joined up policies and regulations that work together n Build upon existing professionals and methodologies to improve all

NI buildings n Use Asset, Occupation and

Metered (in-use) assessments n Display all 3 metrics on EPCs carbon emissions (CO2), cost (£) and energy (kWh) Stuart Fairlie, Technical and Operations Director of Elmhurst Energy welcomes the consultation and adds:

“By keeping it simple and building upon the excellent infrastructure that already exists, we can bring the pieces of jigsaw together and set long term commitments. Industry and all stakeholders will be able to deliver this for the Northern Ireland. communities.”