Government aims to ‘double-down’ on clean power and CCS to achieve net zero grid
Target to fully decarbonise electricity system by 2035 confirmed as Energy UK calls for end to new unabated gas power in UK
The government has promised to “double-down” on wind, solar, hydrogen, nuclear and carbon capture and storage over the next 15 years, as it today confirmed it is targeting a fully decarbonised electricity system across the UK by 2035.
Meeting the 2035 target will require the UK to ramp up capacity for a host of clean power sources, in addition to flexible technologies to help balance the grid, according to the government, which insisted the move would help bolster security of supply against global volatile energy prices.
However, it also signalled that gas generation, if teamed up with CCS, would continue to play a “critical role” in the UK power system, while adding that the development of clean energy technologies “means it will be used less frequently in the future”.
The announcement follows widely-briefed reports earlier this week had indicated the government was set to pull forward its zero carbon grid goal from by a further 15 years from its previous 2050 marker. But although the Prime Minister Boris Johnson had been expected to officially confirm the announcement yesterday at the Conservative Party conference yesterday, he made no mention of the pledge in his speech.
Today, however, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) officially confirmed the new 2035 target, which it said would see it “focus on building a secure, home-grown energy sector that reduces reliance on fossil fuels and exposure to volatile global wholesale energy prices”.
It comes amid surging energy prices which have driven the collapse of a number of smaller UK suppliers, and which are expected to see home and business energy bills soar this winter, thanks to a global gas supply crisis that has prompted concern about domestic energy security.
But the government stressed that ensuring security of supply in the UK necessitated a decisive shift away from fossil fuels to provide electricity, by shifting instead to clean, domestic forms or power including solar, nuclear, onshore and offshore wind, and flexible grid technologies.
Hydrogen and carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) will also play a key role in delivering a fully decarbonise grid, particularly with regards to capturing emissions from gas power plants, which are set to continue playing a key role in meeting power demand, the government said.
Confirming the target today, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng stressed the need to reduce the UK’s emissions while meeting increased demand for electricity, and ensuring the system “remains reliable and affordable”.
“Our plan to move to clean energy and a carbon-neutral economy means new kinds of jobs in new kinds of industries,” he added. “The world needs the innovation and entrepreneurial genius of British companies for this transition to succeed. Recent volatile gas prices have also demonstrated how the way to strengthen Britain’s energy security, ensure greater energy independence and protect household energy budgets in the long-term is through clean power that is generated in this country for the people of this country.”
The announcement signals a major challenge to the energy sector, as well as for government policy, with low carbon electricity – nuclear and renewables – accounting for just under a 60 per cent share of overall UK power generation in 2020, with fossil gas power making up much of the remainder.
Precisely how the government intends to meet the 2035 goal – which it stressed was subject to security of supply – have yet to emerge, although further details are expected in the forthcoming Net Zero Strategy, which Kwarteng said today would be published “in the next few weeks” ahead of COP26.
Kwarteng’s announcement came at trade body Energy UK’s annual conference earlier, where he insisted that the 2035 target “isn’t just something that’s been plucked from thin air”, highlighting the success of renewable power in ramping up capacity and cutting costs. But he stressed more focus was also needed on scaling up grid flexibility technologies to secure the grid.
“I think we need to complement our renewables, our technologies that supply clean power, even when the wind isn’t blowing and even when the sun, if you can believe it, isn’t shining,” Kwarteng told the conference. “Gas with CCUS and nuclear is part of the mix as well, as in the Prime Minister’s Ten Point Plan, all of these things can come together to make sure that we have a sustainable, secure, and ultimately affordable system.”
Meanwhile, the event also saw Energy UK officially give its broad backing for the government’s 2035 zero carbon grid target, with the trade body’s chief executive Emma Pinchbeck today stating that the energy sector “also believes we can achieve a net zero power system in the 2030s”.
Moreover, she also for revealed that the industry body’s official position was now that there should be no further investment in or development of new, unabated fossil gas power generation in the UK, marking a landmark commitment from the energy sector.
“We believe that as we move to a net zero power system – subject to security of supply – we also think there should be no further investment in new, unabated gas generation without clear plans to access CCUS or low or zero carbon gas,” she announced.
Pinchbeck said Energy UK would publish more detailed views on the 2035 zero carbon grid goal – and on its gas power generation commitment – later this autumn when further details of the government’s plans emerge, but called for policy support to help drive delivery of the target.
“We want to see this kind of leadership and ambition from government, particularly in the run up to COP, and we want to be supportive,” Pinchbeck said. “We need government to back up that ambition now with really ambitious and urgent policies, and to recognise the scale of that challenge.”
