The government published its Energy Security Strategy earlier today, with a focus on nuclear, offshore wind expansion and new oil and gas projects the key highlights.

SSE’s CEO Alistair Phillips-Davies provided his thoughts: “The current energy crisis is driven by our reliance on imported gas and it’s clear that the only way to tackle the underlying cause is to ramp up investment in home-grown, clean energy infrastructure; today’s package represents a significant step towards that goal.

“We particularly welcome the increased ambition and commitment to accelerate delivery of offshore wind as the backbone of a cleaner, more secure energy system – but also critically the acknowledgement that accelerating investments into network infrastructure and flexible technologies like pumped storage, alongside a developing hydrogen economy, will be essential if we are to make that ambition a reality.

“The intent from government today is clear; now it’s about delivering it. We’re already investing £12.5 billion in low carbon infrastructure over the next five years and have announced today that we will be creating a thousand new skilled, green jobs a year in the process.

“And with further policy development in the coming months, we can move from ambition on paper to shovels in the ground and jobs in local communities.”