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National elections: Clean Energy – what next?

Picture of Mark Greatholder

By Mark Greatholder, Colin Shear, Mollie Gascoigne, Shauna McGinn

18 Jun 2024 | 4 minute read

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has called a General Election on 4 July 2024. With Labour leading in the polls, the political landscape is highly charged. Several policy announcements have been made as both parties vie for public support. However, with clean energy production critical to achieving Net Zero by 2050, our energy experts have examined the energy pledges of the leading political parties to shed light on the possible changes facing the energy sector following the General Election.

The Labour Party

"The climate and nature crisis is the greatest long-term global challenge that we face."

With Labour still leading in the polls, their manifesto focuses on their pledge to establish Great British Energy, a public-owned company which will allegedly cut bills for good and deliver clean power. Although there is no express pledge to change the net-zero target from 2050, Labour has committed to making Britain a "clean energy superpower" by 2030. Labour also announced a new Energy Independence Act which will provide a framework for the party's net zero and energy policies.

Despite the focus on clean energy production, Labour will maintain a reserve of gas power stations and will not revoke existing licences related to oil and gas production in the North Sea to retain jobs and security of energy supply. However, in contrast to the Conservatives, Labour will not grant new coal licences and will ban fracking for good in pursuit of the net zero target.

The Conservative and Unionist Party

"We are proud of our record and remain committed to delivering net-zero by 2050."

The Conservative Party's manifesto restates their commitment to Net Zero by 2050. However, citing increasing energy bills and concerns over the reliability of renewables, the Party have committed to legislation for issuing annual licensing rounds for oil and gas production in the North Sea as well as committing to new gas power stations.

The Liberal Democrats

"Climate change is an existential threat. Soaring temperatures leading to wildfires, floods, droughts and rising sea levels are affecting millions of people directly, and billions more through falling food production and rising prices. Urgent action is needed – in the UK and around the world – to achieve net-zero and avert catastrophe."

While unlikely to win a majority in the General Election, their potential support for the Labour Party or Conservatives could be significant in the event of a hung Parliament. The Liberal Democrats depart from the 2050 Net Zero commitments of the two largest parties and instead have targeted net zero by 2045.

Reform UK

"Net-zero means reducing man made CO2 emissions to stop climate change. It can’t. Climate change has happened for millions of years, before man made CO2 emissions, and will always change. We are better to adapt to warming, rather than pretend we can stop it."

Reform UK, one of the four biggest parties and currently ahead of the Liberal Democrats in the polls, clearly depart from the others on clean energy by committing to scrap Net Zero. The Party have also pledged to fast-track licences of North Sea oil and gas and grant shale gas licences on test sites for two years. Meanwhile, they have also committed to increase and incentivise UK lithium mining for electric batteries, Combined Cycle gas turbines, clean synthetic fuel and clean coal mining.

The Green Party

"The climate emergency continues to accelerate. Scientists warn that we are currently on track for global temperatures to rise by at least 2.5°C, far beyond levels at which humanity can safely survive. Our promise to you is that all this can change. We can create a greener, fairer country together – one in which we are all safer, happier and more fulfilled."

As the party's name suggests, the Green Party's manifesto focuses on securing a greener country and pledges to push the transition to Net Zero more than a decade ahead of the established 2050 target, although a new target date was not expressly provided.

The manifesto takes a radical approach to phasing out fossil fuels by cancelling recent fossil fuel licences and stopping all new projects. A carbon tax is promised to apply on all fossil fuel imports and domestic extractions which will raise equity to invest in the green transition. Finally, the manifesto focuses on local efforts to benefit communities by encouraging communities to own their own sources of sustainable energy sources.

Solar and BESS

Labour have committed to tripling solar power by 2030. Labour have also pledged to create a new publicly-owned company, Great British Energy (GBE). Plans for GBE include partnering with energy companies, local authorities, and co-operatives to deploy thousands of clean energy projects, including solar. On a domestic level, the Warm Homes Plan will offer grants and low interest loans to support investment in insulation and other improvements such as solar panels and batteries.

Many were disappointed to see no new solar or BESS commitments, initiatives or funding from the Conservatives. With the existing aim to achieve 70 gigawatts of solar power by 2035, it was no surprise that the Party are supportive of solar. However, there was a nod to recent planning changes that the Government have made to protect agricultural and rural land from solar development and encourage its deployment on brownfield sites and rooftops instead.

The Liberal Democrats would immediately require all new homes and non-domestic buildings to be built to a zero-carbon standard, including being fitted with solar panels, and progressively increasing standards as technology improves. For existing households, the Party would expand incentives to install solar panels and guarantee a fair price for electricity sold back to the grid. The manifesto also commits to removing “restrictions” on new solar power and invest in energy storage, including battery capability.

Reform UK have committed to scrapping £10 billion worth of renewable energy subsidies annually.

The Green Party have committed to investing in energy storage capacity and pledged to deliver 100 GW of solar by 2035. On a local level, the Green Party promises that house builders will be required to include solar panels and heat pumps on all new homes, where appropriate.

Onshore Wind

Labour have committed to doubling onshore wind by 2030. Labour have also pledged to create a new publicly-owned company, Great British Energy (GBE). Plans for GBE include partnering with energy companies, local authorities, and co-operatives to deploy thousands of clean energy projects, including onshore wind.

The manifesto did not bring forward new plans to bolster onshore wind. However, there was emphasis on the importance of ensuring democratic consent for onshore wind developments and securing benefits to those local communities.

The Liberal Democrats’ manifesto is light on detail for wind power, but does commit to removing “restrictions” on new wind power.

Reform UK have committed to scrapping £10 billion worth of renewable energy subsidies annually.

The Green Party have pledged to deliver 53 GW of onshore wind by 2035 with aims for wind to provide around 70% of the UK’s electricity by 2030. Although not discussed in detail, onshore wind farms were provided as an example of a local energy infrastructure to be owned by local communities to reduce their bills and benefit their area.

Offshore Wind

Labour have committed to quadrupling offshore wind by 2030 but no further pledges were made in relation to realising this target.

There is enthusiasm for continued development of offshore wind as the Conservatives pledge to triple   offshore wind capacity within the next Parliament if re-elected.

The Liberal Democrats’ manifesto is light on detail for wind power, but does commit to removing “restrictions” on new wind power.

Reform UK have committed to scrapping £10 billion worth of renewable energy subsidies annually.

The Green Party have pledged to deliver 80GW of offshore wind by 2035 with aims for wind to provide around 70% of the UK’s electricity by 2030.

Nuclear

The manifesto gave a general commitment to extending the lifetime of existing nuclear plants and ensuring to see Hinkley Point C “over the line”. The Party say that new nuclear power stations like Sizewell C and Small Modular Reactors will play an important role in achieving energy security as well as securing skilled jobs for thousands of workers.

Nuclear appears to be the winner for low carbon energy in the Conservative Manifesto. In government, the Conservatives have been supportive of nuclear power. If re-elected, the Conservatives have pledged to continue this support by ensuring the long-term security of the nuclear sector. The Party have committed to approving two new fleets of SMRs within the next Parliament and delivering a new gigawatt-scale power plant in North Wales. Mr Sunak has also committed to halve the time it takes for new nuclear reactors to be approved by allowing regulators to assess projects while designs are still being finalised, as well as speed up planning and environmental approvals. There was also the promise to work with industry to deliver existing projects at Hinkley Point and Sizewell. While these aren’t new commitments, there is clear enthusiasm for nuclear in Rishi Sunak’s clean energy plans.

The Liberal Democrats’ manifesto is silent on nuclear energy which raises questions on existing projects and planned future developments.

Reform UK have committed to fast-track the development and expansion of clean nuclear energy with new SMRs.

In contrast to other parties in this year’s election, the Green Party seeks to phase-out nuclear energy, commenting on its unsafe and costly nature in comparison to other clean energy sources. However, this raises questions on how existing and planned nuclear developments will be treated.

Hydrogen

There was a commitment to investing in hydrogen and Labour’s National Wealth Fund was cited as a source of direct investment into hydrogen.

The Conservatives have committed to investing £1.1bn into the Green Industries Growth Accelerator which will aim to support hydrogen and CCUS supply chains in the UK. The Conservatives have also outlined plans to build two carbon capture and storage clusters.

The Liberal Democrats have committed to investing in green hydrogen though there is a lack of detail on specific policies and initiatives in the manifesto.

Reform UK have committed to scrapping £10 billion worth of renewable energy subsidies annually.

The Green Party’s manifesto is silent on hydrogen which raises questions on existing projects and planned future developments.

Comment

As you would expect, there is broad support for significant investment in clean energy, with most parties setting ambitious targets in relation to their clean energy and environmental commitments. However, there is nothing particularly radical in any of the manifestos and most parties are aligned in terms of what needs to be done. The differences largely lie in subtle variations to the level of investment in relation to certain types of technology and the timing of such investment. However, there is little in the way of detail behind the (in some cases) bold targets being proposed by each party.

If the polls turn out to be correct and Labour is successful in winning the election, and if its manifesto is anything to go by, we can expect the new Government to take steps to accelerate the transition to renewable and low carbon sources of power by building 50GW of solar capacity, 35GW of onshore wind and 55GW of offshore wind.  Crucially they want to decarbonise the grid entirely by 2030, five years earlier than the Conservative proposal. Senior figures in industry, and even Labour, agree that it is an extremely challenging target made harder to deliver by recent supply chain and inflationary pressures that have seen some UK projects put on hold.

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