The UK’s energy system is changing rapidly. Since coming into power last year, the Government has doubled down on its commitment to transform the country into a clean energy superpower by 2030. This requires record levels of renewable energy and storage to be delivered over the next five years.
Such a dramatic reshaping of our energy mix is no easy task. To successfully deliver this level of development requires a clear strategy, where policymakers, developers and communities can work together to unlock shared benefits.
To make its ambition a reality, the Government must focus on three crucial areas; creating a flexible grid; addressing skill shortages; and breaking down the barriers to development explains David Acres, Head of Policy at EDF Renewables UK.
A new plan for clean power
The Government’s Clean Power 2030 Action Plan, published at the end of 2024, fleshes out what Britain’s future energy system will look like.
The plan sets out how the country will deliver over 100GW of clean energy and storage over the next five years, with the aim of producing at least 95% of the country’s electricity generation through clean sources by 2030. To put this into context, this involves quadrupling the amount of battery storage installed, almost tripling the amount of offshore wind and solar PV and doubling onshore wind.
Delivering this mission could bring about significant benefits across the country such as cutting energy bills, driving investment of over £40 billion on average per year until 2030, and creating high-skilled, well-paying jobs.
Powering Britain’s net zero potential
A grid powered primarily by wind and solar will go a long way in reducing the country’s carbon emissions. However, energy storage is also going to have an important role to play in this transition. Earlier this month, energy prices in the UK soared as the country was forced to rely on extra gas-fired power plants to fill a gap in demand at short notice, preventing blackouts.
Battery energy storage systems can store electricity generated when demand is low and release it into the grid when more is needed. The expansion of batteries will help make our energy grid flexible and reduce reliance on gas-fired generation when there is a shortfall.
The Government’s recognition that 23-27GW of battery storage will be needed to reach clean power goals indicates that flexibility will be at the heart of our future energy system. However, strategically deploying this storage capacity is vital to ensuring Britain’s grid remains reliable.
Plugging Britain in
The queue to connect new energy infrastructure projects to the grid stands at over 700GW. That’s around seven times the capacity of clean energy and storage that the Government has pledged to get online in the next five years. The National Energy System Operator (NESO) has recently paused applications for grid connection to address this bottleneck. Reshaping the way grid connections work to ensure the right projects can connect to the grid to enable clean power by 2030 is paramount.
At the behest of the Government, NESO is undertaking a large body of work to prepare the grid for the net zero transition, including the strategic planning of grid connections. With delays of key pieces of work already being encountered, it is crucial that NESO is fully resourced and upskilled to ensure they can deliver the critical tasks that lie ahead.
Getting the right skills into the sector
Currently over 700,000 people are employed by the energy sector. The Climate Change Committee reports that up to 725,000 net new jobs could be created in low-carbon sectors by 2030. This is a huge opportunity for the energy industry, and more must be done to facilitate this increase in workers, many of which are in high demand from other sectors.
Currently, there is a shortage of electrical engineers and planners across the sector – addressing this is vital to developing the clean power projects the country needs. The Government has committed to convening a new supply chains and workforce industry forum for the clean power sector to address this issue, but developers have a role to play as well.
Programmes such as Destination Renewables, our award-winning education programme that we developed with DP Energy, Pembrokeshire College and Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum are a step in the right direction to ensure greater engagement and awareness about the careers available for those at the beginning of their professional journey.
Refining the policy landscape to foster investment
To build new renewable energy and storage projects at the scale and speed required, there must be policy certainty, data reliability and strong governance. New announcements, plans and reforms can leave developers feeling uncertain on where to concentrate their efforts, slowing down the pace of Britain’s energy transition.
Outlined in the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan, the Government’s intention to sure up grid connections is a real sign of positive progress. It will be important that Government and NESO work closely with industry during 2025 when developing the long term Strategic Spatial Energy Plan, which should provide clarity to all stakeholders on the future electricity system when released in 2026.
Additionally, concluding the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) which aims to deliver a refined electricity market framework for businesses, industry and homes across the country could be a gamechanger, if the right choice is made for the design of the future electricity market.
An evolutionary approach to REMA, building on the existing national market framework, is most likely to deliver real benefits for consumers quickly. It is also less likely to jeopardise new investment in low carbon generation than a more complex and disruptive reform such as zonal pricing. The theoretical advantages of a zonal market would likely be outweighed by the impacts of increased cost of capital for investment.
Going forward, reforms to make the planning process faster and more consistent while reducing costs and bringing communities along with development, is an opportunity for real change.
Additionally, market reforms to provide more long-term certainty are vital. While the Contracts for Difference (CfD) process has been hugely successful in making Britain a leader in offshore wind, tweaks could be made to guarantee even more success in the future. For example, increasing the duration of contracts to further reduce strike prices and setting out a multi-year schedule for future CfD allocation rounds, could give investors and developers more confidence through increased visibility of the market.
Our future energy system
The UK is a market leader in the clean energy sector and the Government’s plans to supercharge the country’s transition could make it an example to other countries on their decarbonisation journey.
What’s clear is that the country has all the tools and ambition to reap the rewards of an energy system dominated by clean power. To reach this goal the Government must prioritise grid flexibility to keep supply secure, address the recruitment squeeze so the sector can get to work, and put the steps in place to improve the efficiency of the development process.
