The UK’s path to 2030 — clean energy in an era of tech acceleration & infrastructure reform

The accelerating climate crisis has reshaped the global energy landscape, pushing countries to confront the vulnerabilities of fossil fuel dependence and the escalating environmental and economic fallout of carbon‑intensive systems. 

The UK now sits at a critical juncture, shaped by the convergence of volatile global gas markets, rising energy costs and growing sustainability expectations. A cheap, secure and constant flow of energy is an essential foundation for competitiveness in an economy increasingly defined by the shift to low‑carbon systems.

The government’s Clean Power 2030 Action Plan signals a decisive move towards a modernised electricity system built around renewables, marking a clear break from traditional energy sources such as coal and gas as the main domestic forms of energy generation and distribution.

Here, Head of Technology Colin Bell and Maya Tajuddin explore how this transition is unfolding across the UK economy — from industry and infrastructure to planning, global trends and the rising demands of digital technologies.

Renewable energy vs traditional energy

In the first half of 2025, wind and solar generation outpaced coal globally for the first time on record. This shift marks a pivotal moment for climate policy, global decarbonisation efforts and the UK’s economy and its thriving technology sector. Clean power aligns with the UK’s ambitions to maintain its position as a technology-enabled, innovation-driven economy. 

Greenhouse gas emissions within the UK’s borders have already fallen by more than half since 1990. The use of solar power and wind energy embody the shift towards a decentralised and digitally optimised infrastructure, modernising the energy industry while helping to bridge the gaps in domestic energy demand. 

Yet this transition is unfolding against the backdrop of a cost-of-living crisis. Household bills and energy prices are high, exposing the UK’s vulnerability to global gas price shocks and, more importantly, highlighting the urgency of accelerating domestic renewable generation to build a more stable and affordable energy system.

The UK remains optimistic, with the growing number of electric vehicles and heat pumps being installed. The UK has the second largest car market in Europe and electric car sales reached a share of nearly 30%, up from 24% in 2023. Furthermore, 2024 was the first year under the Vehicle Emissions Trading Scheme, which required 22% of all new registrations to be BEV or fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV). These initiatives are essential for decarbonising transport. Alongside this, heat pump employment is also set to grow, helped by the government’s Warm Homes Plan and the removal of the rule that required them to be one metre away from a neighbour's property.

In many regions, the question is no longer whether renewables can compete on cost but whether networks, storage and market rules can keep pace with the expansion of renewable energy.

The global renewables scene

Geographical positioning also has an important role to play in the discussion of renewable energy. Countries across the sun belt — spanning much of Asia, Africa and Latin America — tend to have higher daytime energy needs that are driven largely by the demand for air conditioning. For these regions, shifting to solar power creates an almost immediate opportunity to cut electricity costs, particularly as battery storage is becoming more affordable.

On the other hand, wind-dominant nations like the UK face a more challenging landscape. Unlike solar power costs, the cost of wind technology has not dropped at the same pace. At the same time, rising interest rates have pushed up borrowing costs, significantly increasing the overall expense of developing new wind farms in recent years.

China

China remains one of the largest drivers of global renewable expansion. In the first half of 2025, it recorded a 2% reduction in fossil‑fuel use, driven by a major investment in wind and solar powers. China also built more renewable capacity than all other countries combined during the same period, reflecting its position as the world’s leading clean energy user.

European Union

Historically, the EU has relied more heavily on fossil fuels to meet electricity demand. Falling output from hydro, bioenergy and wind have led to the EU turning back to usage of gas and coal to maintain energy stability. However, solar and wind energy usage have since outperformed fossil fuels usage in the EU. According to Ember, wind and solar generated a record 30% of EU power — slightly ahead of fossil fuels at 29%.

India

India saw a sharp acceleration in its renewable energy use, resulting in a 3% drop in coal consumption and a 34% reduction in gas use. Strong growth in solar and wind meant that renewables outpaced its demand growth, helping to reduce reliance on fossil fuels more significantly than in most other major economies.

USA

Unlike other major economies, the US increased its use of fossil fuels for electricity generation and its current administration has withdrawn from numerous clean power and net zero commitments. Demand for energy in the US is rising faster than the rollout of renewable energies. 

Lower‑income countries 

Lower‑income countries are experiencing the steepest surge in renewable uptake, aided by sharply falling technology costs. Solar panel imports to Africa, for example, are up 60% year‑on‑year, supporting both small‑scale and utility‑scale deployment. These regions are emerging as significant new growth markets for renewables. However, different regions present different issues. For example, in Afghanistan, widespread use of solar powered water pumps has been lowering the water table, threatening long-term access to groundwater. Studies warn that some regions could run dry within five to ten years, endangering millions of people.

Planning: de-carbonising the UK’s real estate sector? 

The UK planning system acts as a critical enabler for the implementation of clean power, a system that is notorious for its slow movement, leaving many unresolved applications. In response to this archaic system, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, introduced in March 2025, aims to reform the current system so that more development and infrastructure projects go ahead. Central to these reforms is the review and modernisation of the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) regime, the main consenting route for large energy, transport and infrastructure projects. These changes are designed to give developers greater certainty, reduce litigation risk and enable faster deployment of technologies vital to the UK’s clean power goals. 

More than 16.1 gigawatts of new renewable energy capacity across 323 projects received permission to start building in the second quarter of 2025. This represents a 195% rise on the same quarter in 2024, amplifying the UK’s initiatives to push for clean power. Recent approvals reinforce this trend: in July 2025, SSE won approval from the Scottish government for its Berwick Bank project off the Scottish coast and the Tillbridge Solar Farm was given the green light in Lincolnshire. 

However, some practical obstacles remain. The planning sector is constrained by infrastructure bottlenecks, particularly around grid capacity and grid‑connection queues. On a more local level, there is also the issue of opposition by locals to large and industrial projects. 

Alongside a surge in renewable project applications, we have seen an increase in planning applications from developers of large-scale batteries to help to balance out the electricity supplies. As renewable energy is variable and often dependent on weather, electricity storage is vital for the UK to be able to actively access and utilise its cheap renewable energy when we need it most. To meet its 95% clean power goal set out in the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan, the UK estimates that it will need around 23 to 27 gigawatts of battery storage by 2030. 

Hot topic: data centres & artificial intelligence

The rapid rise of renewable energy cannot be understood without recognising the pivotal role played by artificial intelligence (AI), data centres and emerging digital technologies in enabling and accelerating the transition. There is gigantic demand for cloud computing services, data storage and AI capabilities through companies like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta and Apple. To keep up with this growing demand for power from data centres, there comes a need to increase the world’s ability to both generate and transmit power — so much so that these large companies have their own ambitions to comply with decarbonisation and clean energy goals. For example, by 2050, Microsoft is planning to remove all the carbon it has ever emitted since the company was founded in 1975. This commitment is increasingly important as it continues to roll out its generative AI, Microsoft Copilot. The data centres that provide the computational and storage capabilities necessary to develop, train and deploy generative AI models will likely consume significantly more energy as its applications become more widely used. 

Looking ahead

The global shift towards renewable energy is no longer a theoretical aspiration but a practical, measurable transformation that is shaping every sector of the UK economy. As markets pivot away from carbon‑intensive systems, the UK’s ambition to deliver a predominantly clean‑power electricity system by 2030 sits within a much wider context of technological evolution, infrastructure reform and growing international momentum in the renewables sector. What emerges from this direction of travel is a clear message that clean power is becoming both the foundation of economic resilience and a catalyst for innovation, stabilising energy costs and enhancing energy security for the future.

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As a purpose‑led business and certified B Corp, we help organisations to navigate the intersection of technology and sustainability, advising on how to embed emerging technologies in ways that are efficient, ethical and aligned with a low‑carbon future. 

These conversations are becoming increasingly urgent and we’re bringing them to the forefront at the Future of Tech conference on 17 March. With speakers from Microsoft, Kao Data, IBM, the STFC Hartree Centre and more, we’ll explore how AI, data, quantum and Tech for Good are shaping the environmental impact of technology — and how they can accelerate a more sustainable future. 

If you’d like to explore these themes further, register your interest.

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