New Report: Hitting the Ground Running

At Labour Party Conference in 2022, Keir Starmer announced that a Labour government would deliver a decarbonised electricity grid by 2030. In the days following, several commentators argued that the goal is impossible and pointed to serious doubts over the current government target of 2035.

Heeding this, Labour used its 2023 conference to announce how it intends to unblock a central limitation to its 2030 target, increasing grid capacity. However, there is significantly more to do. This report, commissioned by RenewableUK, unpacks the detail and political rationale behind Labour’s announcements on network infrastructure, and how they can be delivered in practice.

As consumer energy needs shift from today’s mix of gas, petrol and electricity towards electric-only households, and sources of renewable energy proliferate, much more hardware will be required to move green electricity around the country. This has received increasing attention in recent months with MPs opposing new power lines and waiting times for grid connections making headlines.

In this report, we argue that preparing the network for decarbonisation by 2030 is not impossible – merely very difficult – and that it presents an ambitious goal for industry and the public to rally behind. It will require significant political leadership, policy change and follow-through on promises to deliver a programme of such scale and pace. The announcements in Liverpool could begin to widen the window of probability to meet Labour’s 2030. These included:

• Streamlining planning and consenting processes beyond even the ambition of the Electricity Networks Commissioner’s review by implementing lessons learnt from environmental surveys and resourcing planning authorities. In some cases, Labour would need to be prepared to call in applications by the Secretary of State.
• Securing supply chain capacity to build, fast, by coordinating transmission operators through GB Energy to launch a super-tender that will procure the grid supply chain that Britain needs. This report provides further detail on how this could work in practice through a super-consortium of industry leaders to inform the process of a government-backed bulk booking initiative that would reserve early manufacturing capacity.
• Opening up new grid construction to competitive tendering to deliver investment, capacity, skills, and urgency for building the grid we need, with GB Energy looking to bid into that competition to build or co-build where necessary.

A broader scope of action on the grid, could open it further. Our key recommendations are:

• Confirm strategic plans quickly to know what needs building and where by instructing the Future System Operator (FSO) to ensure network plans reflect the 2030 target.
• Facilitate investment in homegrown supply chains to accelerate supply chains further by enabling the swift consenting and scaling of UK manufacturing sites for grid-related equipment.
• Create national buy-in for the programme through a dedicated public campaign.

If Labour is to succeed in decarbonising the grid by 2030 it will need to think not only about how to speed up the building of pylons and substations, but also about all of the ways in which it can minimise the need and stress on the system while maintaining a reliable and green grid:

• Spread the burden (and risk) of delivering decarbonisation by 2030, by adopting a targeted but holistic approach to support multiple technologies – from long term storage to carbon capture – that can create more upside potential. This would also maintain different pathways and alternative opportunities presented by the individual nascent industries to reach scale.
  • Refine what we mean by decarbonisation, and include slightly more gas with carbon capture in the 2030 energy mix.
  • Reduce our overall need for electricity with a commitment to energy efficiency across the economy.
  • Reduce peak demand for electricity, by investing in energy storage technology and greater demand-side flexibility.
• Avoid additional complexities from REMA by concentrating reform efforts on near-term incremental changes and policies that are critical to the 2030 programme. More radical reforms should be reviewed, with implementation of any deemed worthwhile moved to after 2030.

Read the full report HERE. For press enquiries contact thais.portilho@publicfirst.co.uk

Image: Rodion Kutsaiev on Unsplash