October 24, 2011, New York & London – GCube the leading underwriter of renewable energy initiatives, backs and endorses the findings from the latest WWF report that assess the future of sustainable energy supplies.

The report comes at a time when the energy industry faces a number of challenges. Consumers are striving to keep their energy bills low, Government is cutting financial incentives for small-scale renewables, and deadlines for de-carbonising the power sector are looming closer. The report, however, provides a coherent set of recommendations to manage the transition to a low carbon energy future – including enhancing industry confidence in Government commitment to renewables, enabling the Green Investment Bank to borrow now, and creating a pan-European energy infrastructure.

Crucially, GCube supports the belief that efforts to improve cost competitiveness, demonstrated by the Government’s announcement this week to drive offshore wind costs down to £100 Mwh, should go hand in hand with efforts to reduce risk.

To reduce risk, the business believes that Government needs to actively support the industry beyond 2020, by providing commitments that will enable the supply chain to invest in new technology, manufacturing facilities and knowledge transfer.

To date, technologies such as carbon capture storage have faced an uncertain future and nuclear power still comes with security and cost implications. As such, only clean energy– wind, solar, biomass, wave and tidal– is the only credible way for the UK to reach a low carbon future.

Fraser McLachlan, Chief Executive Officer, GCube said, “As an industry, the insurance sector sits in favour of decarbonising future energy generation, due to the correlation between climate change and extreme weather events, commodity price volatility, and rising sea levels – all of which impact deeply on insurance businesses.

“By investing in key renewable energy developments such as offshore wind, and committing to agreements that provide continuity for the supply chain, only then can we move towards a low carbon economy.”

GCube provides specialist-insuring capabilities in a number of renewable energy sectors including wind power, biomass, geothermal, hydroelectric power, solar power and wave/tidal energy.

To download a complimentary copy of the report, please visit http://assets.wwf.org.uk/downloads/positive_energy_final_designed.pdf