On 24 March, I joined Amber Rudd MP, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, at the BritNed facility in Rochester and Strood. while the main focus of the Secretary of State’s visit was to highlight the benefits brought to the UK energy sector by the EU, I was pleased that the visit also symbolised the importance of our local area when it comes to energy.
Alongside our proud history of power stations on the Isle of Grain, the BritNed interconnector is also a hugely important facility towards our growing energy needs. BritNed is a high-voltage direct-current submarine power cable between the Isle of Grain and Maasvlakte in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Equally as important, BritNed employs highly skilled and motivated people who are proud of their company, many of whom live within Medway.
Over the next five years, these interconnectors will be increased to double our ability to import electricity with similar new connections to France, Belgium and Norway. These new connections alone aim to save British households nearly £12bn over the next two decades by driving down the price of electricity.
That is why areas such as the Isle of Grain are so important to our future and it is here where I aim to seek greater investment in our current local infrastructure in order to better help our energy industry grow. Over the course of this parliament I will be assessing options with local businesses and residents that can best harness the great geographic and engineering potential we have in North Kent.
I felt that the Secretary of State’s visit was a success in highlighting our local area’s energy assets and skills, as well as detailing the benefits of energy cooperation with our European partners. Whether we are in our out of the EU, it is a foregone conclusion that a close partnership is essential for energy investment and security.
The full transcript of the Secretary of State’s speech can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/amber-rudds-speech-on-energy-ben…