These are the words of Christophe Williams, CEO of British manufacturer Naked Energy, in response to yesterday’s announcement of a new UK treaty with Germany.
The treaty is expected to boost business and trade, deepen defence and security co-operation and increase joint action on illegal migration.
It was announced during a joint press conference in Berlin between PM Kier Starmer and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The PM’s negotiating team will now spend the next six months agreeing the new treaty, with both sides wanting to confirm the partnership by early 2025. It is expected to cover areas including market access, critical science, innovation and tech, clean energy, trade across the North Sea, supply chain resilience, energy security, green transition education, biodiversity and the environment.
Speaking at the conference, Kier Starmer described the treaty as a ‘once in a generation chance to deliver for working people’, a boost to trading relations and a chance to create jobs.
UK manufacturing businesses which were significantly impacted by Brexit will now be awaiting further detail to see how the agreement might assist growth.
Solar thermal disruptor, Naked Energy, works with several German companies and recently secured funding from E.ON, the German utility business, to supercharge its global expansion.
Christophe Williams, Naked Energy CEO, said: “This news is definitely a positive sign, but it’s another thing altogether to actually get something in place. Whilst this is a strong signal of intent from Starmer, we shouldn’t get too excited until we see a final deal agreed.
“Hardware and manufacturing businesses like us were deeply affected by Brexit. Our solar thermal technology is designed in Britain, but the main manufacturing hub is in Italy and over 90 per cent of our materials come from the continent.
Brexit friction
“Brexit generated a lot more friction in getting goods in and out of the country. Given we’re an internationally-focused business with customers in Germany, and considering a German office, this has been a major challenge.
“The dream result of this partnership would be more regulatory alignment with Germany and the EU. This will make it much easier to get access to facilities, secure soft funding and buy the necessary equipment to accelerate our rollout.
“Regulatory alignment will help us develop more projects that rely on British manufacturing. We’ve just signed a deal with E.ON, the German utility company, and getting the UK and Germany on the same page will allow us to deliver our tech at scale. This will create British jobs and domestic growth while also helping to accelerate net zero.
“It will also help with European domestic security. Energy prices are set to increase by 10 per cent here in the UK, and energy independence is a must going forward. If we can increase European cooperation when it comes to renewable energy, we’ll boost the continent’s security as well as its economy.”
What do you think? Could the treaty help mitigate the impact of Brexit? We’d love to hear your views. Write to us at news@renewableenergyinstaller.co.uk.
Look out for an in-depth interview with Naked Energy CEO Christophe Williams in the upcoming edition of REI magazine. He’ll be discussing the urgency to decarbonise heat and what is needed to achieve that, plus the company’s journey from start-up to scale-up. You can subscribe to the magazine here.
Image credit: Naked Energy