What we said we’d do

This priority is about how we help the UK achieve net zero targets by innovating to advance the decarbonisation of electricity supply, transport and heat at the lowest cost to consumers.

Our outputs will allow the UK to make progress towards a net-zero energy system at the lowest total cost for bill payers.

We will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, benefitting future consumers and society more broadly. We will also make sure the electricity network can still deliver electricity where and when it’s needed to consumers even as the energy system changes.
 

Key outputs

• We will invest to increase network capacity by 22.5 giga-watts (GW), which will avoid system operation costs of at least £250m per year
• We will invest in equipment and technology to support the electricity system operator (ESO) to operate a net-zero carbon electricity system by 2025
• We are proposing to lower the cost of the energy transition by enabling flexible, competitive, whole system and non-build solutions
• We are proposing strategic network options to accelerate the UK’s progress towards net-zero greenhouse gas emission

_{*On target to deliver increased network capacity}
 

What we have done

In FY22 we connected 5.3GW of new low carbon generation to the network and are on track to connect over 13.4GW during RIIO-T2. Year one was higher than in our baseline plan which was for 4GW in FY22 and 13.6GW overall. For demand connections (that is where increased demand is being catered for) we increased capacity by over 1000MVA in FY22 against a baseline of 300MVA and expect to increase by almost 4500MVA in total, almost twice what we originally planned for in the baseline.

The world we live in is changing, and the UK is at a turning point as we embrace the opportunities a cleaner, greener future brings. The net zero economy will be underpinned by a clean reliable power system.
 

What we’re going to do

Moving towards net zero

The UK Government has committed to ambitious targets for the country to have up to 50 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind by 2030, a fully decarbonised power system by 2035, subject to security of supply, on the way to achieving net zero by 2050. At the same time, demand for electricity will increase as we decarbonise other sectors of the economy, such as heating and transport. As a country we are already making progress. The UK has one of the largest offshore wind capacities in the world, with over 11GW in operation. However, more needs to be done. A net zero future for Britain requires significant upgrades to our energy infrastructure to take new renewable and low carbon energy from where it is generated to where it is used. The new sources of generation are largely set to be located along our coastlines. NGET needs to extend and reinforce the national electricity transmission system – the pylons, cables and substations that transport power around the country – so that we can continue to benefit from secure and reliable energy. We all want to see the energy we use coming from low carbon and renewable sources. It’s also important to keep the impact on the people, places and environments that host our infrastructure as low as possible. As we seek to do this, we will listen to a wide range of stakeholders and communities to help us strike a balance between everything we must take into account.