Britain will struggle to keep the lights on using only net zero electricity as the roll-out of green energy lags far behind target, MPs have warned.
Falling investor confidence and bureaucratic delays mean Britain’s efforts to produce entirely clean electricity are at risk of stalling, MPs on the cross-party Business Select Committee said.
They are calling on the government to come up with a “coherent, overarching plan” to boost green supplies — or risk missing climate targets.
Demand for electricity is expected to soar as households buy electric cars and heat pumps.
Darren Jones, the Labour MP who chairs the committee, said: “Ministers think that publishing strategies and releasing social media videos will deliver the energy infrastructure the country needs.
“Its failed before and it keeps failing. Without a coherent, overarching delivery plan, the Government risks undermining the UK’s ability to generate, store and distribute the fossil fuel free electricity the country needs to hit net zero.”
The Government wants to decarbonise the power system by 2035, as part of efforts to slash carbon emissions to “net zero” across the economy by 2050.
Britain has made significant progress in cutting emissions from its electricity system, with wind turbines now producing roughly a quarter of electricity across the year.
However, production is still dominated by gas-fired power stations, which supply more than a third of annual electricity and are a large source of carbon dioxide emissions.
Ministers want to change this by boosting the amount of electricity generated from wind turbines and nuclear power stations instead.
Gas-fired power stations are likely to still play a role but would need to be fitted with new technology to capture their emissions, or burn hydrogen instead.
The overhaul will require billions of pounds of investment in new power stations, as well as new technology to help cope with greater levels of intermittent wind power on the system.
However, the MPs on the business committee pointed to policies deterring investors, such as windfall taxes, as well as delays for new projects to connect to the electricity grid and “a cumbersome planning regime”.
They warned that investors are being lured abroad, with the US offering billions of dollars of subsidies.
Grant Shapps, the Energy Secretary, defended the government's plans, noting it had succeeded in almost completely stripping coal out of the electricity system.
Speaking as he visited Hinkley Point C, the nuclear power plant being built by France’s EDF in Somerset, he added: “I really started to appreciate the extent to which Britain has a total lead in this regard when I was at the G7 energy ministers [meeting] in Japan, where every country in the world is looking to the way that Britain has decarbonised.