“Consumers will feel the benefit of clean and cheap,” major energy conference told
- Top civil servant tells major conference "the moment is now" for clean, cheap energy
- Salix among more than 10,000 delegates at All-Energy 2026 in Glasgow
- Chris Stark from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero was keynote speaker
- Other attendees included key energy companies, local authorities and network operators
“Consumers will see the benefit of clean and cheap. It’s not easy, but the moment is now,” a major energy conference has been told.
Chris Stark CBE, head of the clean energy mission at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, was the keynote speaker on day two of the All-Energy Exhibition and Conference in Glasgow, attended by us at Salix.
“We need to be less preachy about climate, less technical in our messaging and clearer about the benefits,” he went on.
Salix met with partners, took part in discussions and joined sessions at last week’s event, which was attended by more than 10,000 delegates from across the energy sector.
'Determined that we respond better this time'
Making reference to the continued conflict in Iran, which has caused sharp rises to energy prices in the UK, Mr Stark said that the war in Ukraine had cost taxpayers £50 billion in support on energy bills, money which he thinks could have been spent on clean energy.
“I am determined that we respond better this time,” he said, mentioning that the Energy Independence Bill had just been menionted in the King's Speech, while the government is two years into its mission to clean up the power system.
"We need to perform surgery on the connection queue," he added, saying that the focus for 2030 had started with prioritising power generation and the grid.
"Now, we have to make it work for people. We are doubling down on clean energy, but the benefits need to be felt by households," he told the audience.
“We will go faster and further, breaking the link between gas and electricity prices,” he continued and gave Spain as an example where this is being done well.
The Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow hosted the All-Energy Exhibition and Conference, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Picture credit: Salix Finance.
Another priority described by Mr Stark was electrification. He expressed the desire to “accelerate the move from fossil fuels” to the likes of electric transport, cooling systems and rooftop solar.
He described being "most excited about the shift to electric vehicles" due to consumers seeing the benefits and facing similar costs, but added that "the biggest challenge is heat." He finished by emphasising the need "to rollout batteries as the gateway drug to heatpumps."
On a similar note, energy minister Michael Shanks - who was the keynote speaker on day one of the conference – said we must “redouble our efforts” to achieve greater electrification and use more renewable power.
“The case we’ve got to make to the public is that it’s value for money and will build the economy,” he added.
Also at the conference, the University of Edinburgh’s Daniel Friedrich told an audience of around 100 people about the university’s innovative energy efficiency upgrades, including re-using heat from its data centre to power the campus.
Professor Daniel Friedrich gave a presentation about the University of Edinburgh's innovative heat network. Picture credit: Salix Finance.
We packed a fantastic amount into our two days at the conference, listening to expert panels discussing the future of solar power, developments in offshore wind technology, community energy projects and a presentation on retrofit.
It was also educational and inspiring to mix with a wide range exhibitors, stakeholders and fellow delegates including representatives from universities, local authorities, energy companies and networks, innovative green technology businesses and colleagues from Ofgem.
A highlight was taking part in a discussion run by our partners at Great British Energy around its Local Power Plan.
Fraser Stewart, Great British Energy's head of local energy strategy. Picture credit: Salix Finance.
