Rapid Decarbonisation of the GB Electricity System
The National Engineering Policy Centre (NEPC) was commissioned by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation to provide insight and potential solutions to the challenges of rapid decarbonisation of the GB electricity system. The project is targeted at policymakers and the wider energy industry and will focus on what a credible engineering-led delivery plan to rapidly decarbonise would require in practice.
A decarbonised electricity system is crucial for a Net Zero energy future, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and providing economic, employment, and health benefits. The GB electricity system can be rapidly decarbonised by a change of mindset in government and industry, public buy-in, a high order of political and engineering leadership, innovative thinking, and access to capital.
With the right leadership, decisiveness, and high ambition, it is possible to go beyond current expectations, but this will need a sense of urgency and a fast pace to be set and maintained.
Rapid Decarbonisation of the GB Electricity System
A new report from the National Engineering Policy Centre (NEPC) discussing the priority actions for a rapid transformation of the electricity system.
NEPC Roundtables Series: How to decarbonise electricity in Great Britain by 2035
Before commencing work on Rapid decarbonisation of the GB electricity system, the NEPC organised a series of roundtables discussions from September 2023 to January 2024 on how to deliver a decarbonised electricity system. The focus of this was to inform work of the then government on a delivery plan for their target of electricity decarbonisation by 2035. The aim was to provide valuable insights to decision-makers through a series of focused discussions on key aspects of this challenge by convening experts from across industry, research and policy. Five key topics were identified as crucial to consider in depth for effective delivery of the energy transition. These topics formed the basis of five separate roundtables.
In total, the roundtables drew together around 80 senior leaders from industry, academia, civil society and government to discuss crucial systems-level challenges associated with delivering electricity decarbonisation by 2035.
A summary report, drawing together key findings from across the roundtable series, as well as in-depth summaries of the individual roundtable discussions have been developed.
Roundtable themes
Five key topics have been identified as crucial to consider in depth for an effective delivery of the energy transition. These topics gave rise to five separate roundtable sessions:
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