The Government claims to have reached an agreement on energy policy that will deliver 'a clear, durable signal to investors'.
Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey said: 'This is a durable agreement across the Coalition against which companies can invest and support jobs and our economic recovery.

'The decisions we've reached are true to the Coalition Agreement, they mean we can introduce the Energy Bill next week and have essential electricity market reforms up and running by 2014 as planned.

'They will allow us to meet our legally binding carbon reduction and renewable energy obligations and will bring on the investment required to keep the lights on and bills affordable for consumers.'

With a fifth of the UK's electricity generating capacity due to close this decade, reforms are needed to provide certainty to investors to bring forward £110 billion investment in new infrastructure to keep the lights on and continue the shift to a diverse, low carbon economy as cheaply as possible. It will support as many as 250,000 jobs in the energy sector.

Mr Davey announced a package of decisions around the Energy Bill, which will be introduced next week:

* The creation of a Government-owned company to act as a single counterparty to give investors confidence to enter into new long term Contracts for Difference for low carbon electricity projects.
* Powers to introduce a capacity market, allowing for capacity auctions from 2014 for delivery of capacity in the winter of 2018/19, if needed, to help ensure the lights stay on.
* An amendment during passage of the Bill to take powers to set a decarbonisation target range for 2030 in secondary legislation.

One objective is to increase renewables from 11 per cent today to around 30 per cent by 2020, as well as supporting new nuclear power and carbon capture and storage commercialisation.