Mission Control: can the UK really reach its Clean Power 2030 goal?
On February 5 the Committee will hold a first, public evidence hearing with the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero’s “Mission Control” unit.
This session offers a chance to explore in depth one of the biggest political questions of the moment: will the UK really be able to reach its 2030 clean power target, as politicians and officials have been cautiously affirming - and how are we going to get there?
Meeting details
“Mission Control for Clean Power 2030” was set up within DESNZ in July 2024 as a “one-stop shop, bringing together a top team of industry experts and officials to troubleshoot, negotiate and clear the way for energy projects”, with the aim to “turbocharge the government’s mission to provide Britain with cheaper and clean power by 2030”.
Former head of the Climate Change Committee Chris Stark has been appointed to lead it. Asked by The Times in his former role if Labour’s proposition for a 2030 clean power target was feasible, he said it was “huge challenge” and that “they would have to turn absolutely everything towards this on day one of that administration, if they wanted to pull it off”.
The Chief Executive of the National Energy System Operator, Fintan Slye, who recently gave evidence to the Committee, has said it is a “Herculean task” that it is “at the outer limit of what is achievable”.
This is the task facing Mission Control - how will they lead the way to achieving it?
The UK’s proposed clean power pathways require us to build nearly 1,000 km of onshore, and over 4,500 km of offshore, grid network to enable reaching the goal: more than double over five years what has been built in the last ten.
What’s the technological mix available to the UK to reach clean power, and how will we create the conditions to bring in the estimated £40 billion a year of investment, every year from now to 2030, needed to develop that tech and the infrastructure to deliver the power it generates?