The Clean Power Action Plan aims to ‘clean up a dysfunctional grid system’ by prioritising the most important projects and ending the ‘first-come-first served’ system. It will also speed up decisions on planning permission by empowering planners to prioritise critical energy infrastructure. In addition, the renewable auction process will be expanded to stop delays and get more projects connected.  

The Plan takes onboard advice from the independent National Energy System Operator (NESO)’s Clean Power 2030 Report published last year, which set out two broad potential pathways to the 2030 target.

The government expects the Clean Power Action Plan to deliver £40bn/y of mainly private investment in homegrown clean power projects and infrastructure across the country, creating thousands of skilled jobs.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: ‘A new era of clean electricity for our country offers a positive vision of Britain’s future with energy security, lower bills, good jobs and climate action. This can only happen with big, bold change and that is why the government is embarking on the most ambitious reforms to our energy system in generations.’

In response, Greg Jackson, CEO, Octopus, commented: ‘We welcome the prospect of slashing red tape for grid connections, overturning the onshore wind ban in England and allowing more special offers to slash energy bills. Britain’s high energy prices stem from years of bad rules that don’t allow us to build renewable energy in the places it’s needed, or make use of cheap wind when it’s abundant, so these are positive steps.’

Energy UK CEO Dhara Vyas said: ‘We support the need for fundamental changes that speed up the planning process, enable the swift construction of critical infrastructure, cutting the time for grid connections and enabling more homes and more businesses to benefit from the expansion of clean energy far more quickly.’ She added: ‘A clean power system must also include the necessary expansion of other established and emerging clean technologies, including storage and flexibility.’

Meanwhile, RenewableUK’s Director of Future Electricity Systems, Barnaby Wharton, said the Plan was ‘a landmark moment’ for the clean energy sector. ‘Not only do investors have a clear government target of establishing a lowest cost electricity system dominated by wind and solar, but they now have a roadmap to achieving it.’

He added: ‘It’s great to see the plan set out targets for delivering the batteries, network infrastructure and flexible technologies that will enable the roll out of renewable energy, as well as specific targets for wind and solar farms. We would encourage the government to maintain this focus on renewables, collaborating with the sector on industrial strategy to ensure the UK grasps the potential jobs and industrial investment which could come alongside these new clean energy developments.’

Stating that ‘the energy crisis underlined exactly why we must end Britain’s reliance on volatile gas markets for electricity generation’, Ofgem CEO Jonathan Brearley said: ‘Getting to clean power by 2030 is tough but achievable; it will require unprecedented pace by government, industry and regulators.’ He also noted that ‘tough trade-offs’ would be necessary and it would be ‘vital that the government brings the public, businesses and industry with it on every step of the journey’.

Meanwhile, Jess Ralston, Head of Energy at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, commented: ‘The UK has paid the price for over-reliance on expensive gas over the past few years and the crisis is not over yet. Accelerating the rollout of renewables will stabilise prices and clean technology like electric heat pumps will increasingly run off British wind and solar, in contrast to gas boilers which will increasingly be run off foreign gas imports. Continuing to accelerate this rollout is the way we will avoid being on the hook for expensive gas in future.’

She continued: ‘The Energy Crisis Commission concluded that the UK is “dangerously unprepared” for another crisis, but reaching clean power will be a significant step towards achieving energy independence. It will also be crucial that government focuses on fixing up our leaky homes and switching away from gas boilers.’

Key elements of the Clean Power Action Plan include:  

• Cleaning up the dysfunctional grid. Over the last five years, the grid connection queue has grown 10-fold, and now contains an equivalent capacity of 739 GW, according to the government. Many of these projects are speculative or do not have the necessary funding or planning permission to progress. The queue is currently managed on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. To meet the 2030 ambition, the Plan will help remove unviable projects, re-order the queue, and accelerate connection timescales for the projects needed most.  
• Prioritising 2030 projects in the planning system: The Plan will provide clarity on what the energy mix will look like for 2030 on a national and regional level, including updating the National Policy Statements. The government is also bringing onshore wind back into the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) regime in England, making it easier to progress onshore farms larger than 100 MW. It is also to bring forward a Planning and Infrastructure Bill with measures to streamline the delivery of critical infrastructure in the planning process. The government will also ensure communities directly benefit from hosting clean energy infrastructure.
• Further reforms to accelerate homegrown clean power: The renewable auction process will be expanded so projects can get funding agreed before their planning permission has been finalised. This will stop delays and get more projects online, and also encourage investment into supply chains. The Plan will also include pro-consumer reforms to help households have more choice and access to cheaper energy tariffs. It will ensure more consumers can make the choice to save money on their bills by using appliances when electricity is cheaper – for example, charging their car overnight and selling excess energy back to the grid.