High interest rates could add billions to UK green energy transition, says report

A permanent shift to higher interest rates could add billions of pounds to the UK’s renewable energy transition, a leading thinktank has warned.

Borrowing costs have soared since the easing of pandemic lockdowns and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as the world’s leading central banks raised interest rates to tackle inflation – pushing up the costs of investment in infrastructure across advanced economies including for green power generation schemes.

The Resolution Foundation said £29bn a year could therefore be added to household energy bills in 2050 in a scenario where interest rates persist at current elevated levels, relative to a situation where borrowing costs return to pre-pandemic levels.

However, it said the green transition would still save consumers billions of pounds compared with current sky-high energy costs, and slowing down the pace of transition was not an option.