WIREDGOV

A potential Labour government will face 10 big barriers to hitting its 2030 clean power target – and would need a plan for week one, month one and its first 100 days in power to overcome them, says a new Institute for Government report.

Published today, Clean power by 2030: How could a Labour government achieve its mission for power sector decarbonisation warns that what Labour says and does in its first days in government – if it wins the general election – will be critical to meeting its clean power target. Keir Starmer – if he becomes prime minister – will need to immediately set out how he will deliver his commitment to ‘clean power by 2030’.

Major barriers include lack of grid capacity (with generators paid £1.38billion in 2022 to reduce the supply of cheap renewable energy when supply was high), stretched supply chains, shortages of workers with the necessary skills, insufficient public engagement, and a need to make the planning system work much faster if energy targets are going to be hit. Average waits to get consent for nationally significant infrastructure increased from 2.6 to 4.2 years between 2012 and 2023.

But historical successes – such as the 4,000 miles of transmission lines built in 12 years from the 1950s, the switch over of 13.5m buildings and 40 million appliances from coal or oil to natural gas between 1967-77, or the 40 gas power stations built in 10 years during the 1990s ‘dash for gas’ – show that the UK can deliver large scale projects.

The new IfG report’s recommendations include:

First week

• The prime minister reaffirming that power decarbonisation is a priority and that he expects all departments to play a part in delivery.
• The government deciding on the scope of legislation to be included in the first King’s Speech. 
• Determine what form GB Energy will take and what powers it would need.
• DESNZ initiating a rapid stocktake of what is needed for 2030 and the scope for acceleration.

First month

• Working out how critical strategic decisions will be made and how to include organisations like the new National Energy System Operator (NESO) and Ofgem.
• Initiating planning reforms by giving onshore wind, one of the cheapest sources of energy, the same planning rules as other energy infrastructure.

First 100 days

• Actively engaging with the public on what decarbonisation means and why it should be a national priority.
• Engaging with the fiscal and distributional questions with the chancellor taking a leading role.
• Setting out what is expected from local authorities – and giving them more support. 
• Bringing plans together into a clear roadmap to clean power by 2030, with critical milestones and establishing monitoring and escalation mechanisms. 

If elected to form the next government, Labour will have under six years to meet its goal of delivering clean power by 2030. The UK has shown that it is able to deliver ambitious projects quickly under the right circumstances, but a Labour government would need to hit the ground running.

Rosa Hodgkin, IfG researcher and report author said:

“The UK is not on track to deliver the Conservative target of clean power by 2035. Labour’s target is even more ambitious. If elected, a new Labour government will need to start addressing some of the barriers to faster delivery from day one if it wants to achieve its mission and lay the foundations for a net zero UK."