If the UK is to meet increasingly ambitious targets for renewable energy, then much depends on what happens not just in England, but in the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Thus the aim of this study is to assess the impacts of devolution on the provision of renewable energy, and address the following questions: To what extent has devolution affected the volume of new renewable energy being delivered in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland? Have the devolved institutions made different use of the powers and capacities for promoting renewable energy given to them by devolution? What lessons can be drawn for the effective delivery of renewable energy from these experiences across the UK? The research starts in 2012 and runs for two years. It focuses on how the devolved administrations have set targets for renewable energy, and coordinated this with national (UK) and EU-level targets. Careful attention is also given to two key sets of policy instruments for renewable energy: financial support mechanisms and planning policy. The research combines qualitative data, gathered from documentary sources and interviews with government, business and pressure groups, with quantitative data derived from data-bases of renewable energy development.
The data for this study consisted of (i) published energy statistics already in the public domain, (ii) documents (government policy statements relating to renewable energy, also in the public domain) and (iii) interviews. In total, approximately 75 interview were conducted for the study; two thirds of them face to face (the rest by telephone); all but a handful recorded and transcribed. Interviewees were split between actors in government (EU, UK, devolved government, local government), industry (renewable energy developers, grid operators, trade associations) and environmental bodies (governmental and non-governmental). The interviewees were also dividely evenly between those with a primarily English/UK sphere of operation, a Scottish sphere of operation, a Northern Irish sphere and a Welsh sphere.
