The government’s path to clean power

The government has set out its action plan on how the UK will achieve ‘clean power’ by 2030. There’s no doubting the challenge and speed required: in just five years’ time it wants gas power stations to account for just 5% of electricity generation – a huge drop from 32% in 2023.

What’s the target?
Clean power means that, by 2030, enough clean power will be generated to meet the UK’s total annual electricity demand, backed up by unabated gas supply to be used only when essential.

The Clean Power 2030 Action Plan proposes a once-in-a-generation upgrade of the UK’s energy infrastructure, delivered through a pipeline of projects. The National Energy System Operator (NESO) has provided advice, through its Clean Power 2030 report, supporting the timeline’s ambition, and the Electricity System Operator will provide advice on the pathway, with analysis of the location and type of new investment and infrastructure needed to deliver it.

Chris Stark, head of Clean Power 2030, and former chief executive of the Climate Change Committee, said the task will, “build the grid that Britain needs, overturning decades of delay; install clean sources of power at a pace never previously achieved; identify the energy mix needed for the 2030 power system and reorder the connection queue to achieve it; develop a flexible system that can accommodate and store Britain’s renewable resources; and deliver these benefits to consumers, people, households and businesses as swiftly as possible.”

Planning and consent
The grid will need around twice as much new transmission network infrastructure by 2030 as has been built in the past decade, with a reformed, shorter connection process.

The government says most 2030 clean power projects are already in the pipeline and it will consult on unblocking bottlenecks, expand planning consent exemptions to include low-voltage connections and upgrades in England, and work with MHCLG on more flexibility for electrical substations. The Scottish and Welsh Governments are considering how their planning and consenting regimes will integrate with Clean Power 2030.

Onshore wind is back in favour, along with renewables and nuclear capacity, and the government will look to identify locations for new generation projects on private land and development on public land, unlocking scope for generation on government estates.

Solar panels are already an eligible measure in existing programmes like the Warm Homes Local Grant and Warm Homes Social Housing Fund, and the government says it will look at the potential for solar canopies on outdoor car parks.