A new report from the House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee has called for an urgent increase in the pace of infrastructure rollout and grid upgrades.
The inquiry leading to the assessment began in January with the goal of addressing barriers to the UK’s net zero energy generation aims. Delays, resource shortages and regulatory obstacles have all been identified in the paper, Power Struggle: Delivering Great Britain’s Electricity Grid Infrastructure.
Published yesterday, Wednesday 4th June, a number of recommendations have now been made. These include speeding up planning approvals, giving industry regulator Ofgem clearer direction and improving cross-departmental coordination.
The Government should also begin publishing a progress update every six months, ring-fence planning fees for local authorities and be more transparent about how grid access is being prioritised for key sectors. Transitional support for people affected by zonal pricing should also be introduced.
‘The electricity grid is an essential part of modern life for households, businesses and transport links,’ said Committee Chair Baroness Taylor of Bolton. ‘Given the scale of changes needed to the planning, regulation and delivery of energy infrastructure, and the UK’s historic record of delivering major infrastructure projects, our report questions the feasibility of meeting the clean power target.Time is already running out, and there is no room for complacency. The Government and the sector must ramp up their efforts to have a chance of success.’
Currently, energy analysts Cornwall project the UK will miss its onshore wind goal of 10 gigawatts by 2030, and offshore aim of 6GW in the same period. Solar capacity is also falling short. Although infrastructure is being built rapidly, grid connectivity is lagging and preventing many schemes coming online quickly enough.
‘Achieving the UK’s Clean Power 2030 goals requires bold leadership and a coordinated approach to maximising renewable energy,’ said Kelly Becker, President of Schneider Electric UK and Ireland, Belgium and Netherlands.
This begins with urgent investment in grid infrastructure – both transmission and distribution – to ensure a robust and reliable supply of clean energy to accelerate electrification across sectors,’ they continued. ‘Progress must be underpinned by prioritising planning reform and regulatory changes, making our targets achievable in both the short and long term. At the same time, we must improve energy efficiency to alleviate pressure on the grid. The technologies to enable this transition are already available – it is now a matter of deploying them at scale.’
Image: Thomas Richter / Unsplash
More Energy & Net Zero: