Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the UK will have a clean electricity generation system by 2035.
Johnson, speaking today in Manchester where the Conservative party conference is being held, said the country can deliver the goal based on its progress in renewables, including offshore wind.
“What we’re…saying is that by 2035, looking at the progress we’re making in wind power – where we lead the world now in offshore wind – looking at what we can do with other renewable sources, carbon capture and storage with hydrogen potentially, we think that we can get to complete clean energy production by 2035,” he said.
The Times newspaper earlier reported that Johnson wants to have a decarbonised UK power system from a mix of renewables and nuclear.
The latter will require significant investment in order to provide base load capacity alongside wind and solar, according to the report.
RenewableUK chief executive Dan McGrail welcomed the announcement and said scaling up renewables is the best way to protect British consumers from gas price shocks and meet net zero.
However, to make the 2035 target a reality the country needs to move “even faster, building more onshore and offshore wind projects without delay, as well as harnessing the full potential of innovative technologies like floating wind, renewable hydrogen and marine energy”.
“That’s why we’re calling for Government to help remove the barriers which are getting in the way building of vital new projects, and for Ministers to go the extra mile by setting ambitious new targets for clean energy technologies across the board for 2030.”