wind turbines and clouds over a farm and hills in Lancashire, England UK

Breaking down government clean power barriers

Institute for Government has published a report exploring how a potential Labour government can work to overcome the barriers that will hinder progress towards clean power by 2030.

According to the report, there are ten major barriers to hitting the Labour target of 2030 for the decarbonisation of power, with a plan being required for the work that will take place in the first week, month, and 100 days of their taking control of government.

A lack of grid capacity, supply chain issues, and skill shortages are some of the challenges that the potential new government face as they look to achieve their clean power targets, with those being accompanied by a slow planning system. According to the report, the average wait to receive consent to construct nationally significant infrastructure has increased to over four years in the last decade.

Also outlined in the report are some of the successes that prove how the UK is able to deliver projects of the required scale, including the 4,000 miles of transmission lines that were built in the 1950s, the 40 gas power stations that were built during the 1990s, and switching 13.5 million buildings to natural gas from coal or oil between 1967 and 1977.

Clean power new government infographic

Institute for Government Researcher, and author of the report, Rosa Hodgkin, 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.”

Institute for Government has outlined some of the key steps that Labour Party Leader Keir Starmer must take, should his party win the election this week. Over the course of the first week, these include:

  • Reaffirming that decarbonising power is a priority, with an expectation that all government departments will play their own role in delivering the plan
  • Deciding on the scope of legislation that will be included in the first King’s Speech
  • Establishing the form that GB Energy will take and determining the powers that it would need
  • Ensuring that the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero initiates a ‘rapid stock take’ of what is needed to achieve the 2030 goal, and how work can be accelerated.

Within the first month of the potential new government, IfG has recommended that planning reforms must be initiated (e.g giving onshore wind the same planning rules as other infrastructure) and working out how strategic decisions will be made, with this including how organisations such as Ofgem and the National Energy System Operator can be brought into the conversation.

By October (the first 100 days of the government), the IfG has stated that the public should be actively engaged on what decarbonisation means and why it is so important, as well as allowing the Chancellor to deal with the fiscal and distributional questions. Local authorities should also have had their role made clear to them, as well as being given more support, whilst a roadmap should be developed, including critical milestones and monitoring mechanisms.

 

Image credit: iStock

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