London Targets 2 GW Solar

London’s mayor Sadiq Khan has published a draft of his London Environment Strategy, which includes a Solar Action Plan. With this program, the city wants to install at least 100 MW new solar by 2030, increasing from the current generation capacity of 95 MW. This is planned to be accomplished through grants to community groups, pilot projects promoting lower cost solar panels and by putting solar panels on buildings of Transport for London (TFL), which manages the city’s transport system. In the long run, Khan targets 2 GW of PV capacity by 2050, which would require support from the national government.

There is also a plan for a solar rooftop pilot program, which at first would poll people if they are interested in PV rooftop systems, followed by a ‘solar reverse auction’ with battery storage. If successful, the pilot would be extended to the entire city.

The overarching goal is to make London a zero carbon city by 2050 supported by energy efficient buildings, clean transport and clean energy. The draft report reads, “The Mayor’s new Energy for Londoners programme will help Londoners and businesses to generate more renewable energy. This will help London’s buildings to be powered more cleanly, its entire transport system to become zero emission, and for London to be a zero carbon city by 2050.”

The draft Environment Strategy can be downloaded from the London government’s website. Both individuals and organizations can comment by November 17, 2017. The government has also commissioned an Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA) on the draft strategy. Respondents can also share their views about this assessment. The final London Environment Strategy is scheduled to be published in 2018.