Utility Week

20 | JUNE 2021 | UTILITY WEEK Policy & Regulation Countdown to COP The last cut is the deepest T he UK can legitimately give itself a col- lective pat on the back for its efforts cutting greenhouse gas emission since 1990. Over the past three decades, emissions have plunged by 41 per cent. However, following April's commitment by the government to a new emissions reduc- tion target, which is designed to set the UK on course for net zero emissions by 2050, that trick will have to be repeated all over again and in half the time. This stipulates that UK emissions must fall by 78 per cent compared to 1990 levels, which is nearly as great as the reductions achieved during the past 30 years, by 2035. Many commentators have pointed out, following the announcement, that the time for setting targets is over: now the focus must shiˆ to delivery. So what will the new targets mean for utilities? 'Something needs to happen soon' The new target certainly injects greater urgency into the task of cutting emissions. "Fundamentally something needs to hap- pen. It's getting to the situation where I don't mind what it is as long as something hap- pens," says Bean Beanland, president of the Ground Source Heat Pump Association. Clare Jackson, co-lead of the Hydrogen Taskforce Secretariat, agrees. "Everything has to go faster. We don't have the time and we need to move forward as quickly as pos- sible with all solutions." For the power sector, the new target doesn't mean a "huge change" but offers less wiggle room, says Marlon Dey, GB head of research for consultancy Aurora Energy Research. Existing pressure to entirely decarbonise the power sector by 2035 will intensify, he says: "The electrification of the wider econ- omy with heating and transport all has to happen anyway, just a lot quicker." The Climate Change Committee (CCC) has projected that renewables will need to meet 70 per cent of electricity demand by 2035 with wind, particularly offshore, becom- ing the backbone of the system, providing 265TWh of generation. It means, for example, that the govern- ment's target of 40GW of offshore wind by 2030 is "absolutely needed", says Dey. The 3GW per annum of new wind capac- ity, which the CCC says will be required, will mean more frequent contracts for difference auctions, says Dr Jonathan Marshall, head of analysis at the Energy and Climate Intel- ligence Unit. In a new report, published in May, RenewableUK proposed the introduction of a set of new targets for the rollout of differ- ent renewables technologies by 2030. These are 30GW of onshore wind power, a mini- mum 5GW of green hydrogen, a doubling of government ambitions for offshore wind deployment to 2GW and a new goal of 1GW of marine energy. Phasing out gas The key difference for the power sector, though, followingthe 78 per cent announce- ment, says Dr David Joffe, head of carbon budgets at the CCC, is that there will have to be alternatives to the gas-fired power sta- tions that provide back-up power to cope with peaks in demand. This will mean a combination of gas plant fitted with carbon capture and storage (CCS), hydrogen-fired plants and greater storage to help balance demand, he explains. The government's ambitious target to cut emissions by 78 per cent by 2035 will inevitably lead to more pressure on utilities to deliver on decarbonisation. As part of Utility Week's Countdown to COP campaign, David Blackman looks at where that pressure is likely to be applied.

• Cover