Since 1990, the UK has seen a more than 50% reduction in carbon emissions across the economy, with a substantial proportion of that driven by the falling emissions from the power sector. However, to achieve the previous target of a Net Zero power sector by 2035 (as part of the transition to a Net Zero economy by 2050), the former government estimated that there will need to be an additional investment of £275-375 billion in new capacity and an average annual renewable deployment of 7-9.8GW.

The current pipeline of renewable projects (from scoping to under construction) stands at >540GW, which is more than enough to meet the estimate of required capacity, but there are multiple challenges to ensuring the realisation of this pipeline in time to meet the new target of a 2030 Net Zero power system:

• Macroeconomic headwinds
• Planning permission
• Grid connections
• Securing a route to market

In this report, in addition to outlining these barriers to the deployment and investment in UK renewables, we discuss a series of actions that can be taken by the new government, industry bodies, and market participants to help regain and maintain momentum in the transition to Net Zero:

• Policy certainty and clarity
• Continuation of grid connection reform
• Reform of the planning process
• Diversity of routes to market
• Co-location
• Resilience of operational strategy

Despite the positive steps already being taken to encourage the deployment and investment in UK renewables, there is no single panacea that will immediately overcome all the hurdles outlined in this report. Developing and investing in renewables will remain a complex and involved process, but there are a range of actions that the government, industry bodies, and market participants can take to alleviate the headwinds experienced by the sector in recent years.

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