Financing the UK power sector: Is the money available?

The UK power generation sector faces a major new round of investment: the coincidence of asset retiring and ambitious goals for decarbonisation is not unique, but is particularly acute in the UK. The UK government has put in place a raft of new policies that seek to promote new, low carbon investment and ensure security of supply. The traditional channel for financing the sector has been through large utility companies, but this now looks challenging for various reasons. The UK therefore offers an interesting case study on several counts; the scale of the challenge, effectiveness of new policies, and the availability of alternative finance. We find that the link between the finance sector and the electricity sector is not 'broken', but the flow of money to the sector is threatened by the current weakness of the utilities' business model. This paper compares estimates of the scale of investment required in the UK with historical investment rates. It summarises contemporary finance industry views of conditions and trends, and potential policy interventions that might be needed to bridge the investment gap. The potential for channelling institutional investor funds directly into energy assets is reviewed.