Source · Select Committees · Environmental Audit Committee
Recommendation 1
1
Accepted
Paragraph: 19
Government's ambitious 2035 decarbonised electricity targets require substantial capacity increase and urgent planning.
Conclusion
The Government has set stretching overall ambitions for the generating capacity required to supply the GB electricity grid with decarbonised energy by 2035. To meet these, current capacity will have to increase by 250% in a little over a decade. Planning for this wholesale electrification of the economy ought to be well under way to ensure that the 2035 deadline is met.
Government Response Summary
The government has established the 2030 Clean Power Unit and commissioned NESO for independent advice on the pathway to clean power. They will review this advice and publish a Clean Power 2030 Action Plan by year-end, with further strategic plans from NESO in 2026 and 2027.
Paragraph Reference:
19
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The Government agrees this is an important recommendation. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has established the 2030 Clean Power Unit, headed by Chris Stark, to accelerate the delivery of the critical, clean energy infrastructure needed to provide Britain with clean power by 2030. In August 2024, the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero and Chris Stark commissioned the National Energy System Operator (NESO) to provide independent advice on the pathway to clean power 2030. The Government received NESO’s response on 5 November. We will review this advice and publish a Clean Power 2030 Action Plan by the end of the year. Further to this, NESO will also produce the Centralised Strategic Network Plan (CSNP) in 2027, which will cover the whole GB network and consider the development of other energy vectors such as natural gas transmission and hydrogen. The CSNP will be informed by the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan, which was formally commissioned on 22 October 2024 and is expected to be published in 2026, covering both electricity generation and storage. Storage (Recommendations 2&3)