The UK is set to miss its goal for a net zero emissions power system because the government’s lack of urgency will make it struggle to compete with other countries to lure investors.
(Bloomberg) — The UK is set to miss its goal for a net zero emissions power system because the government’s lack of urgency will make it struggle to compete with other countries to lure investors.
The country is on track to “fall well short” of the government’s target for a clean power mix by 2035, according to Chris Stark, Chief Executive Officer of the Committee on Climate Change, which published a report on Thursday. Outdated policy and cumbersome planning are delaying the infrastructure needed to electrify the country quickly, it said.
The warning comes as the UK sees increasing competition for the investment that it has long taken for granted as the United States vastly expands green-energy subsidies and the European Union accelerates planning processes to build more renewables. President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act in particular has left the UK facing calls for policy and funding certainty from firms attracted by the US.
“We have to respond to the EU and the US in some shape or form,” Stark said in a media briefing, who also cited China as a rising competitor for clean technologies. “We do not see the same pace from UK ministers.”
The UK’s queue to connect new generation to the grid is one of the longest in Europe, with tough planning rules that mean it can take as long as 10 years for proposed projects start generating. Rishi Sunak’s government started a review in February to focus on how to approve new projects faster, with recommendations due in spring.
Key blind spots for the government include a lack of attention to low-carbon back-up generation like hydrogen-fueled power stations to help complement intermittent renewables, the CCC said. It called on the government to speed up new storage solutions like using excess electricity to generate hydrogen through electrolysis.
The report also argued in favor of a more flexible power system, for instance by linking the UK to other countries via more interconnectors and rolling out demand response technology. National Grid Plc’s operator is already looking to expand its Demand Flexibility Service, which paid households to reduce energy use this winter and helps the system shift electricity use to times when surplus is available.
While the country’s last coal power station is set to close next year, the report said that achieving a decarbonized system doesn’t necessarily have to mean the closure of all gas-fired plants. Along with 70% of the country’s power coming from renewables like wind, about 10% of UK power could still be generated from gas plants in 2035, including 8% using carbon capture technology, the report said.
On rare occasions, the UK might need a small amount of polluting fossil fuel generation to keep the lights on during cold, still evenings.
In a move of even deeper ambition, the opposition Labour party aims to hit the net zero grid target by 2030. “An incoming Labour government would have to turn absolutely everything toward it from day one of that administration,” said Stark.
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