At long last, the UK is shooting for the moon on clean energy

An ambitious plan revives hope but it will be a race against time

- LARA WILLIAMS

Christmas came early for energy nerds with the arrival of a dense 136-page document detailing how the UK government plans to decarbonize the nation's electricity supply by 2030. There will inevitably be complaints and some details are hazy. But this long-awaited work demonstrates that there's finally a government in power in London that's actually serious about the clean power mission.

The UK's Clean Power 2030 Action Plan covers a lot of ground, all in the pursuit of three goals: achieving energy security, spurring new growth industries and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

It starts with a precise definition of 'clean power,' in keeping with the National Energy System Operator's (NESO) characterization that said clean power should cover 100% of electricity demand by 2030, in a year with average weather conditions. However, the NESO also left room for unabated gas to pick up the slack during periods of cold, windless and cloudy weather—or dunkelflaute, as Germans call it, specifying that at least 95% of the electricity generated within the country's borders should come from low-carbon sources.