‘Champion of renewables’ Kwarteng takes the reins at BEIS

Kwasi Kwarteng has been appointed as the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) as part of a ministerial reorganization at the department.

Kwasi Kwarteng was named as the Secretary of State for BEIS, moving forward from his previous role as the Energy Minister at the department.

He will replace Alok Sharma who has been appointed as full-time President of the UN COP26 climate conference in Glasgow set for November 2021.

Also, Anne-Marie Trevelyan will become Minister of State for Business, Energy and Clean Growth in a ministerial reshuffle, taking forward climate and energy policy, including implementing plans in the Prime Minister’s Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution.

The renewables industry has welcomed the appointments, especially Kwarteng’s, who has been deemed as the champion of renewables by the country’s industry association RenewableUK.

Hugh McNeal, RenewableUK’s Chief Executive, said: “We’re absolutely delighted that such a strong and passionate advocate for renewable energy has stepped up to the very top of his department as Secretary of State. Kwasi Kwarteng has championed renewable energy indefatigably in his role as Energy Minister, engaging with us constantly on how to ramp up the deployment of onshore and offshore wind and innovative technologies like floating wind, tidal stream and wave power and renewable hydrogen, so we can reach net zero emissions as fast and as cheaply as possible.

“His keen focus on vital work to develop the UK renewable energy supply chain with us will help to create tens of thousands of jobs over the course of this decade in the Prime Minister’s Green Industrial Revolution. We’re also looking forward to working closely with Anne-Marie Trevelyan in her new role as Minister for Business, Energy and Clean Growth.

 “We would like to thank Alok Sharma warmly for his superb leadership of BEIS since February, guiding the energy sector skilfully through the most challenging months of the pandemic. We wish Sharma every success in his crucial new role as President of the key COP26 summit in November, when the eyes of the world will be upon the UK and our world-leading efforts to tackle climate change which is the biggest threat to our way of life. Now that he is focussing entirely on this role, we can be sure that this will prove to be a landmark event”.