UKERC Energy Strategy Under Uncertainties: Financing the Power Sector - Is the Money Available?

The electricity sector faces a level of investment in the coming two decades far higher than the past two decades. It needs to renew its ageing generation fleet, and shift towards capital-intensive low-carbon forms of generation. Over the past few years, various organisations and commentators have suggested that the sector may be unable to deliver, questioning whether there will be a sufficient flow of money into the sector to finance these investments.

This report examines the evidence for these claims, looking at three key issues:

• The size of the gap between required and current levels of investment,
• The ability of energy companies to scale up their capital expenditures,
• The ability of financial institutions to provide the necessary funds, and the mechanisms by which they might do so.