The government has unveiled its “most ambitious” clean electricity plan yet, pledging to generate almost all electricity from renewable sources by 2030 in a bid to stabilize energy prices.
The plan, announced on Friday, aims to achieve 95% clean electricity by the end of the decade by overhauling the country’s power grid, increasing investment and connecting more homes to renewable energy. We have set a goal.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said the measures amounted to “the most ambitious reform of the energy system in a generation”.
“This is about harnessing the power of Britain’s natural resources to protect workers from the devastation of global energy markets,” he said. “The Clean Power Sprint is a modern-day national security, economic security, and social justice fight.”
The announcement came after Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters at the UN’s Cop29 climate change summit that the UK wanted to further strengthen its reputation as a “climate change leader”. The UK’s commitment under the Paris Agreement is to reduce emissions by at least 81 per cent by 2035 compared to 1990 levels.
The government said its new roadmap would protect households from rising energy prices by shifting Britain’s dependence on volatile fossil fuel markets to homegrown renewables such as wind and solar. are. To achieve this, we aim to unlock £40bn a year of private investment, paving the way for economic growth and thousands of skilled jobs across the UK.
Jess Ralston, head of energy at the Energy and Climate Information Unit (ECIU), said: “The UK has paid the price for overreliance on expensive gas over the past few years, but the crisis is far from over.” .
“Accelerating the uptake of renewable energy will stabilize prices and clean technologies such as electric heat pumps will be increasingly supplied by UK wind and solar sources, as opposed to gas boilers, which rely on foreign imports. .”
One of the biggest barriers to the expansion of renewable energy is the UK’s outdated electricity grid system. Clean energy projects are sitting in long queues under a “first come, first served” system, leaving billions of pounds of investment backlogged. In its new plan, the Labor government wants to prioritize projects that can be implemented immediately to help meet the 2030 target, while removing speculative or stalled proposals from the queue.
The government says the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will streamline approvals for major energy projects such as wind farms and battery storage facilities.
Britain will close its last coal-fired power station in 2024, ending 142 years of dependence on the dirtiest fossil fuel to generate electricity. According to government statistics, renewable energy, mainly wind and solar power, now accounts for more than half of the total.
However, the growth of renewable energy is threatened by a lack of energy storage capacity, which is essential to stabilize the grid during periods of fluctuating wind and solar production, leading to zero or negative prices in Europe and elsewhere. connected to. The government has pledged to scale up battery storage, increase grid flexibility and ensure that electricity generated from renewable energy is stored and deployed when demand peaks. .
The National Energy System Operator (NESO), which carried out the analysis supporting the plan, said the 2030 target was “challenging but achievable”. NESO said a cleaner power system would provide a safer and lower cost power system, with long-term benefits for consumers.
The government says that beyond environmental targets, the Clean Power Plan is expected to create thousands of skilled jobs in sectors such as engineering, manufacturing and construction and spur economic growth.
Recent projects such as the Hornsea 3 offshore wind farm, which was awarded a £100m contract this week, and a carbon capture initiative planned for Teesside, highlight the economic potential of clean energy. The Hornsea project alone supports jobs across the north of England, while the Teesside carbon capture plant will create thousands of roles in the North East.
Shadow Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho accused the government of pushing ahead with reforms that could increase energy bills.
“Ed Miliband spent his election promising to cut energy bills by £300 by 2030, then took the same amount from impoverished pensioners. The promise is nowhere to be seen,” she said.
“Instead, he now has black and white evidence that rushing to decarbonise the electricity system by 2030 will lead to higher electricity bills and further hardship for people across the UK. he is moving forward.
“What we need is cheap, reliable energy. We don’t need high bills.”
Mr. Ralston called for the plan. “It is an important step towards achieving energy independence. ”
“It is also important that the government focuses on repairing leaky homes and switching from gas boilers,” he said.
