The UK energy transition has moved beyond proving that clean technologies can work. The challenge now is deploying them at the speed, scale and level of coordination required to transform the country’s energy system.
During a keynote panel at Reset Connect, a flagship event of London’s Climate Action Week, titled Powering the Future: Scaling Clean Energy for a Net Zero World, government and industry leaders explored what must happen next as the UK accelerates towards a clean power future.
Moderated by Wafa Jafri, UK Head of Energy Strategy and Global Lead for Energy Transition at KPMG UK, the panel brought together Chris Stark, Head of the UK’s Mission for Clean Power at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, and Carl Trowell, President of UK Strategic Infrastructure at National Grid.
The discussion covered infrastructure, investment, industrial demand, consumer behaviour and policy. Across each area, one message was clear: the energy transition is increasingly inevitable, but successful delivery will depend on the systems, decisions and partnerships that sit behind it.
Decarbonisation is now a coordination challenge
Many of the technologies needed to decarbonise the UK already exist. The greater challenge is coordinating government, grid operators, investors, developers, industries and communities around a shared delivery plan.
Large energy and industrial projects require planning, regulation, infrastructure and capital to move in step. Where these elements are misaligned, even technically viable and strategically important projects can face significant delays.
Planning and permitting remain obstacles. Projects can secure investment, establish a strong commercial case and demonstrate a clear contribution to national energy priorities, yet still struggle to progress through the wider system.
The next phase of the transition is therefore not simply about technological innovation. It is about creating the institutional frameworks that allow proven technologies to be deployed at scale.
The grid is becoming an instrument of industrial strategy
The role of the electricity grid is changing fundamentally.
Historically, the system was designed around a relatively simple principle: generation responded to consumer demand. In a system increasingly powered by wind, solar and other variable sources, demand will also need to respond to when energy is available.
At the same time, the grid must connect new forms of industrial demand, major renewable generation projects and increasingly complex energy infrastructure.
Grid connections are no longer only a technical consideration. Decisions about where the network is reinforced, extended and modernised will influence which regions, industries and technologies are able to grow.
This makes grid development central to the UK’s wider industrial strategy. The network will shape where businesses invest, where new industries emerge and how quickly established sectors can decarbonise.
Government and system operators are also taking a more strategic role in preparing and coordinating infrastructure, rather than relying on individual developers to address each requirement independently. This will require integrated planning and deep technical expertise across the market.
Policy certainty is essential to securing capital
Clean energy infrastructure is capital intensive and designed to operate over several decades. Investors therefore need confidence that the commercial and policy environment will remain stable throughout the life of an asset.
Long term contracts and predictable revenue mechanisms, including Contracts for Difference and similar structures, have an important role in reducing risk. Longer contract periods can provide greater certainty, smooth returns and help projects attract capital at a lower cost.
The panel also considered the role of government in enabling investment. This does not always mean acting as the direct counterparty. Well-designed institutions, contracts and market mechanisms can provide the necessary stability while remaining resilient to political change.
In some areas, however, the state may need to take a more active role. Strategic infrastructure can be essential to the wider energy system while remaining difficult to finance on a purely commercial basis, particularly during its early development.
Using the public balance sheet selectively to absorb certain risks can unlock significantly greater volumes of private capital.
There is also the question of how the costs of the legacy energy system should be managed. Spreading some costs over longer periods and across a wider customer base may reflect the fact that the infrastructure being built today will also benefit future generations.
The broader message was that financial architecture matters just as much as physical infrastructure. Ambition becomes delivery only when projects are investable.
Industrial electrification is already reshaping the system
The expected growth in industrial electricity demand is considerable.
Over the next five years, system planners anticipate connecting more than 10GW of new industrial demand, alongside an existing base of approximately 40GW.
Supporting this growth will require new renewable generation, substations, transmission infrastructure and network capacity. While this places additional pressure on the system, it also provides an opportunity to modernise the grid around the needs of a cleaner economy.
This is not a marginal adjustment to the existing energy market. It is a reconfiguration of the relationship between energy and industry.
Access to reliable, affordable clean power will increasingly influence industrial competitiveness. The infrastructure decisions being made now will determine whether future industries can operate sustainably, resiliently and at scale.
Flexibility will determine the cost of the transition
Flexibility was one of the most important themes raised during the session.
In a conventional energy system, generators are increased or reduced to match demand. In a renewables led system, consumers and businesses will increasingly need to shift some demand to periods when clean power is abundant.
Battery storage, electric vehicles and smart technologies are already making this possible. In many cases, energy use can be moved to a different time without affecting comfort, productivity or operational performance.
A more flexible system can reduce the need for additional network infrastructure, make better use of existing assets and spread fixed costs across a larger and more active electricity market.
This matters for affordability. The pathway to lower bills in a high renewables system is not simply building more generation. It also requires using energy more intelligently.
The difficulty is that flexibility can be challenging to communicate outside the energy sector. It may lack the visibility of a wind farm, battery project or transmission line, but it connects affordability, reliability and decarbonisation across the entire system.
Consumer experience will shape adoption
The transition will ultimately be experienced by households and businesses through the technologies they use every day.
Electric vehicles provide a clear example. Their running costs can already compare favourably with petrol and diesel vehicles, but access to convenient charging remains uneven. For those living in flats or without private driveways, the practical experience can still present a significant barrier.
The same principle applies to heat pumps, smart meters and flexible tariffs. Competitive pricing is important, but it may not be enough to encourage adoption where the customer journey feels confusing or inconvenient.
The panel suggested that improving the experience of electrified technologies may prove as important as reducing their cost.
Policy and market incentives must also recognise that some consumers and businesses are better placed than others to respond to price signals and adjust their energy use. Supporting those groups to participate can generate system wide benefits while flexibility becomes more accessible across the wider population.
For the transition to secure lasting public support, it must feel convenient, fair and materially better than the system it replaces.
Net zero requires a durable national strategy
Energy infrastructure operates over timescales that extend far beyond individual electoral cycles.
Investors, developers, communities and supply chains need confidence that the broad direction of policy will remain consistent. Without that certainty, projects become more difficult to finance, organisations delay investment and the cost of delivery rises.
The panel reflected a growing sense that many elements of the energy transition now carry cross party momentum and economic inevitability.
Maintaining that momentum will depend partly on how the transition is communicated. Contracts, grid reform and market design are essential, but the public case must also be rooted in outcomes people can recognise: cleaner air, greater energy resilience, competitive industries and lower lifetime energy costs.
Net zero is not only a technical programme. It is a long term economic, political and social project.
Moving from ambition to scaled delivery
The technologies required for the transition are advancing rapidly. Grid infrastructure is being redesigned. Financial frameworks are evolving and industrial demand is already changing how the future system is planned.
What is needed now is a relentless focus on coordination, flexibility and long term stability.
Government, industry, investors and consumers each have a role to play, but delivery will depend on how effectively those groups work together.
The next stage of the energy transition will not be defined by individual pilot projects or isolated technologies. It will be defined by whether the UK can build an integrated system that turns clean energy ambition into reliable infrastructure, investable projects and a better experience for businesses and households.
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