According to a leaked letter between Energy Secretary Amber Rudd and fellow ministers, it appears that the UK will miss its legally binding renewable energy target for 2020.
The letter revealed that there would be a 25% shortfall, or 3.5% on the legally binding target of 15%. This revelation comes just weeks after the Energy Secretary claimed the UK's plans were on course and justified the end of incentives for solar and wind energy.
There are also warnings that the UK may be liable to pay fines if the target is missed alongside a judicial review if there is no credible plan for the UK to meet its obligations.
A range of measures are suggested in the leaked correspondence to address the predicted shortfall. These include offsetting the UK's failure to increase its own renewable energy generation by paying for renewable projects in other EU countries, speeding up a planned undersea electricity cable to Norway and entering discussions with other EU states in an attempt to make the target more flexible.
The Energy Secretary has been criticised for her lack of transparency on the issue as in June she stated to the House of Commons that the UK would meet their targets. Opposition parties along with environmental campaigners have called on the energy secretary to explain why there was no disclosure that the UK is likely to miss targets. Molly Scott Cato, Green MEP said that the energy secretary had: ''serious questions to answer about why she has reported something to Parliament which appears inconsistent with what she has been telling other ministers.''
A spokesman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change stated: ''We do not comment on leaked documents. As the Secretary of State has set out clearly in the House, renewables made up almost 20% of our electricity generation in 2014 and there is a strong pipeline to deliver our ambition of reaching 30% by 2020. We continue to make progress to meet our overall renewable energy target.''
