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<p>The government’s commitment to supporting infrastructure investment and delivery
is a key element of its long-term economic plan. The infrastructure pipeline, now
published twice a year, is a forward-looking bottom up assessment of planned infrastructure
investment across the public and private sectors. It enhances visibility and certainty
for investors and the supply chain and allows government to work more effectively
to ensure that the UK’s infrastructure needs are met.</p><p> </p><p>The value of the
infrastructure pipeline increased to £383bn at the 2014 summer refresh from £375bn
in December 2013.</p><p> </p><p>The infrastructure pipeline published in December
2013 included a number of individual energy projects being considered by developers.
However, as set out in the National Infrastructure Plan 2013 and in the pipeline itself,
the number of potential projects being considered by developers exceeds expected demand.
It is a sign of a competitive market when developers are considering more schemes
than will be required, allowing only the most competitive schemes to come forward
into development. Weighted assumptions were applied to the overall energy investment
figures in the 2013 pipeline to reflect this.</p><p> </p><p>At the summer refresh,
to provide as much clarity as possible for industry and investors, it was decided
only to name energy projects where a final investment decision or other firm commitment
had been made to a project as opposed to the previous approach which was largely based
on those projects that had applied for connections. The remainder of the money which
is anticipated to be spent in generation was then included in a balancing line. This
reflects the fact that the government makes no judgment on the outcome of the competitive
process between developers. This change in presentational structure did not affect
the underlying modelling assumptions regarding the amount of anticipated investment.</p><p>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The flood section of the pipeline in the December 2013 publication
contained a large number of very small projects. At the summer refresh, the smaller
schemes were grouped in to the Regional Flood and Coastal Committee programmes, with
only the larger schemes being listed out individually. Further details on the full
programme of works is available via the Environment Agency website. As with the changes
to the energy section of the pipeline, this is for ease of reference and does not
reflect any change to the overall level of planned floods investment.</p><p> </p><p>An
update of the pipeline will be published alongside the National Infrastructure Plan
this December</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
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