UK power boss: Labour’s clean energy plans challenging but achievable

October 01, 2024
UK power boss: Labour’s clean energy plans challenging but achievable

As his organization went public on Tuesday, the person in charge of ensuring the lights are kept on throughout the United Kingdom referred to Labour's aim to decarbonize the electrical grid by 2030 as "incredibly challenging but achievable."The National Energy System Operator (Neso) chief executive, Fintan Slye, told the PA news agency that while the strategy will force the government and the energy sector "to do things very differently, and to do things faster, but it is nevertheless achievable." The UK's power supply is managed by Neso, which continuously adjusts supply and demand to prevent blackouts.It was owned by National Grid, a company that was listed on the London Stock Exchange, and was known as the Electricity System Operator (ESO) until the end of September. The Government has officially announced that it will pay £630 million to acquire the organization and add a new letter to its abbreviation.Probably the largest thing we'll need to modify is our ability to quickly supply infrastructure on the ground. Neso and Fintan Slye Neso's new mandate includes advising Labour on how to implement a clean power system by the end of the decade. This autumn, a report from Neso will reach Ed Miliband, the energy secretary.

A primary challenge, Mr Slye said, will be to build things like pylons, power lines and battery storage plants more quickly than before, which in turn will require the planning system to be “more streamlined”.


Meanwhile, officials will need to cut Britain’s vast queue for green energy projects to get connected to the power grid, in which renewable energy projects face a waiting time of up to 14 years or more.


He said: “The ability to deliver infrastructure quickly on the ground is probably the biggest thing that we’re going to have to change.”


He added: “The connections queue, on one hand, gives you confidence that there is the pipeline of projects out there.


This new independent body will help to set a path to decarbonising our networks, giving the industry confidence to invest in a clean energy future and supporting skilled jobs across the country


Energy Minister Michael Shanks

“The thing that absolutely has to happen though, is agreement on how we reform the queue to bring forward the projects that are needed.

“But with all of the work that’s under way on reform at the moment, we can see a path through that.”

In its first months in government, Labour has set up a new state-owned energy investment company, GB Energy, and lifted a de facto ban on new onshore wind projects in the planning system in England.

Officials also handed out contracts for a new wave of green power projects in early September, including onshore and offshore wind and solar farms, which will generate enough power for 11 million homes, in its annual auction.

Bringing Neso into public hands is also part of the wider plan for the green transition, though it was set in train under the last Conservative government.

Energy Minister Michael Shanks said on Tuesday: “We are on a mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower and today marks a milestone in that journey with the launch of Neso.

“This new independent body will help to set a path to decarbonising our networks, giving the industry confidence to invest in a clean energy future and supporting skilled jobs across the country.”

Mr Slye told PA the move away from National Grid will give him and his colleagues more “clarity of mission and purpose. That is the key thing that is different”.

“We’re not in this to make a profit, we’re not in this to serve some corporate goal.

“The mission of the organisation is to try to chart that path towards a more sustainable future with secure and affordable energy for everyone.”