Energy Security at Risk as UK Set to Miss Net Zero Green Electricity Target, Say MPs

Wind turbines adorn the landscape in the Southern Lake District, in Lambrigg, England, on Nov. 25, 2022. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Britain’s energy security is at risk as the country is on track to fail to meet its targets to generate all of its electricity without burning gas by the middle of next decade, MPs have warned.

In its “Net Zero Strategy” published in October 2021, the UK government set an ambition for all electricity generation to be decarbonised by 2035, subject to security of supply.

But according to a new report (pdf) by the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee in the House of Commons, the government may fail to deliver the energy infrastructure the country will need in its “net zero” future.

To meet its decarbonisation target, the government will have to replace all gas-fired power generation capacity—which currently accounts for 40 percent of all electricity supply—with a new mix of low-carbon generation technologies, including offshore and onshore wind, solar, nuclear, and hydrogen.

Meanwhile, the MPs said, electricity demand is expected to be around 50 percent higher by 2035 and 100 percent higher by 2050, following the roll-out of heat pumps and electric vehicles.

The cross-party group, which includes Conservative MPs, said ministers have not provided “strategic leadership” and there is no coherent, overarching plan for meeting the ambitious target.

The committee said that the way that windfall taxes on energy generators and oil companies are structured favoured the latter group.

It also said that the government is not tackling the cost of developing new wind and solar farms, which have soared in recent months as supply chains were put under pressure.

Committee Chairman Darren Jones, a Labour MP, said: “Ministers think that publishing strategies and releasing social media videos will deliver the energy infrastructure the country needs. It’s failed before and it keeps failing.

“The UK is now competing with the U.S. and Europe for investment. Government must urgently make us an attractive investment proposition again and ensure that the pool of capital and labour available for building low-carbon energy projects is not lost.”

In response to the report, the government insisted that it is “taking real decisions” to deliver a low-carbon energy system.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said in a statement, “We are taking real decisions to benefit this country: to deliver a secure, low-cost, and low-carbon energy system, to decarbonise the UK’s electricity system by 2035, and to reduce energy bills across the UK.”

Infrastructure Risks

The UK has signed into law a policy to achieve net zero by 2050 with the Conservative government setting out a strategy called “Build Back Greener” to decarbonise all sectors of the UK economy.

The UK’s National Audit Office said in December 2020 that the government’s commitment to achieving net zero by 2050 is a “colossal challenge” that could cost hundreds of billions of pounds.

Under the government’s net zero plans, by 2035 half of all cars will be electric and a quarter of homes will be heated with heat pumps.

But the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) and the Climate Change Committee (CCC) warned ministers on Wednesday that the reliance on electricity may lead to unintended risks.

In a joint letter (pdf) to Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden and Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey, the NIC and the CCC said there are “risks that must be monitored and managed, particularly as we electrify the Net Zero economy.”

“As our dependence on the decarbonised electricity system increases, risks like storm damage to overhead wires could become more disruptive,” the letter said.

It also warned that “system planning must account for extreme events and weather-related uncertainty such as low wind,” as the UK increasingly relies on wind power.

Heat Pumps

In January, a UK government review on its net zero policy suggested that new gas boilers should be phased out within a decade.

The review, carried out by Conservative MP Chris Skidmore and published on Jan. 13, calls on the government to legislate for the Future Homes Standard so that no new homes will be built with a gas boiler from 2025.

He also urged the government to adopt a 10-year mission to make heat pumps a widespread technology in the UK and legislate for the end of new and replacement gas boilers by 2033 at the latest.

The CCC projected that by 2050 all heating in British homes will be provided by low-carbon sources, of which 52 percent will be heat pumps, which run on electricity and work like a fridge in reverse to extract energy from the air or ground.

Critics have warned that the UK government’s push to replace gas boilers with heat pumps will cost taxpayers dearly.

There have also been concerns over the effectiveness of heat pumps in heating homes.

The Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee of the House of Commons admitted in February 2022 that heat pumps may not be able to “heat homes adequately” if the homes are not sufficiently insulated.

The committee said failing to address the concerns could lead to “scheme failure.”

PA Media contributed to this report.