UK Government publishes major action plan to decarbonise grid by 2030

The UK Government has unveiled a clean power action plan to decarbonise the electricity grid by the end of the decade to protect households from future energy price spikes, boost growth and tackle the climate crisis.

The extensive plan released on Friday sets out how Labour intends to lay the foundation for achieving its target of 95% clean power across the UK by 2030.

Developed over the last few months in collaboration with industry, the plan outlines a host of reforms that the ministers will introduce during 2025 to start a major drive to wean the UK’s electricity system off fossil fuels.

Ministers plan to roll out wide-ranging measures to speed up planning decisions on clean energy projects, unblock the queue for connecting to the grid, boost renewable capacity, expand energy storage and increase flexibility in the system.

Lower bills

Under the measures, the wholesale price of electricity is forecast to fall by the end of the decade with the hopes this will translate to lower bills, and ensure households and businesses do not suffer the same impacts of the recent energy crisis driven by spiking gas prices.

The Government said the wider economic benefits will also be huge, with an estimated £40 billion extra in mostly private investment in homegrown clean energy projects annually.

However, the vast amount of infrastructure that needs to be built over the next few years comes with difficult trade offs, including some significant impacts on communities and nature.

As more pylons and wind turbines go up across the country, those living in areas nearby will be offered a range of direct benefits such as lower energy bills, which will be outlined in legislation next year.

Marine recovery fund

To mitigate nature impacts, the Government said it will set up a marine recovery fund for offshore wind and will engage with all stakeholders early next year on how to best encourage nature-positive best practices into energy infrastructure development.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: “A new era of clean electricity for our country offers a positive vision of Britain’s future with energy security, lower bills, good jobs and climate action.

“This can only happen with big, bold change and that is why the Government is embarking on the most ambitious reforms to our energy system in generations.

“The era of clean electricity is about harnessing the power of Britain’s natural resources so we can protect working people from the ravages of global energy markets.

“The clean power sprint is the national security, economic security, and social justice fight of our time – and this plan gives us the tools we need to win this fight for the British people.”

The Conservatives immediately attacked the plan with shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho warning that the plan will lead to higher bills.

“Ed Miliband spent the election promising to cut energy bills by £300 by 2030, then took the same amount away from pensioners in poverty. Now his promise to cut bills by £300 is nowhere to be seen,” she said.

“Instead, he now has black and white proof that his rush to decarbonise the electricity system by 2030 will push up electricity prices and cause more hardship for people across Britain, but he’s pushing on regardless.

“We need cheap, reliable energy – not even higher bills.”

Pathways

The release of the action plan comes after the National Energy System Operator (Neso) last month provided the Energy Department (DESNZ) with an analysis of pathways to achieve Labour’s 2030 target, calling it a “huge challenge” but “achievable”.

Labour had pledged a “zero-carbon electricity system” by the end of the decade but the Government recently accepted Neso’s definition of this target as more than 95% clean with gas generation acting as a backup or strategic reserve.

The biggest challenge will be transforming the grid, with the Government announcing plans for Ofgem and Neso to work together on reordering the queue of clean energy projects looking to connect to the grid.

The system has been operating on a dysfunctional “first-come-first serve” basis but key projects identified to help reach the 2030 target will be brought forward in a move that will likely prove controversial.

To protect itself from legal challenges from projects being pushed back, the Government will introduce new powers under its upcoming planning and infrastructure bill, which will also include measures to help streamline the planning process for the critical infrastructure needed.

To speed up the planning process, ministers will explore ways to limit the ability of judicial reviews to present unnecessary delays to major infrastructure projects and planning bodies will be given additional resources and flexibility to manage the increased workload.

To boost clean power generation, the Government said it is going to run the biggest auction of renewable capacity for clean energy projects the UK has ever seen in 2025.

The plan also outlines what the 2030 energy mix may look like, with onshore, offshore and solar wind together making up more than half the UK’s power under the different scenarios, with a range of other sources like nuclear, biomass, hydrogen, gas and batteries making up the rest.