A group of investors has told MPs that the private sector will struggle to spend unless the price of renewable technologies reduces. Speaking at the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee in Westminster, it was clear lessons had been learnt from Europe.

Peter Atherton, Head of European Utility Sector Research, Citigroup said: “I have met with 120 major investors since the Electricity Market Review came out and by far their biggest concern is the affordability issue. They’ve experienced what has happened in Germany and Spain. My investors don’t have the technical confidence, they don’t have confidence that the policy mechanisms will be sustainable.”

Chris Hunt, Managing Director of Riverstone said: “I agree with Peter, if you were to take a snap shot of Spain and Germany, as it were, they have both, as economies, motivated a tremendous amount of capital to build low carbon energy. However, they tried to do too much, too fast. They went in when costs were very high.”