Clean energy goal 'challenging', says minister after 'pie in the sky' claim

Hitting the Government’s 2030 clean energy target is challenging but can be met, a minister has insisted, amid claims from his own back bench it was “pie in the sky”.

Lord Hunt of King’s Heath defended Labour’s plan to decarbonise the grid by the end of the decade after criticism by party colleague and former environment minister Lord Rooker, who argued it was “a non-runner”.

It came after the National Energy Systems Operator (Neso) identified a series of hurdles that would have to be overcome for the goal to be reached.

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These included planning reforms to enable the rapid building of large amounts of new pylons, securing £40 billion of annual investment and tackling years-long delays to connect green energy sources to the power network.

Speaking during a debate in Parliament on renewable energy, Lord Rooker said: “Given that the UK cannot build railways as fast as the Victorians, I am on solid ground in my belief that clean electrical power by 2030 is a non-runner.

“The UK is world class in setting targets, which is not the same as delivering actions.

“Last week’s report from the National Energy System Operator is claimed by some as saying it is all possible – that is pie in the sky.”

Highlighting the numerous challenges faced, from vastly expanding solar and wind power to unlocking investment and extending the grid, he added: “That will all have to be delivered at pace, on time and at the same time – come off it.”

Referring to Birmingham’s technological pioneers of the 18th century, he said: “This is the UK in 2024, not the UK of the Lunar Men 250 years ago at the start of the Industrial Revolution.

“The UK no longer has a culture of building or people like Isambard Kingdom Brunel.”

Highlighting the Neso report, energy security and net zero minister Lord Hunt said: “I interpret it as saying that that is very challenging. I do not think anyone has resiled from that. Of course it is challenging.

“It involves plumbing and there are issues with the planning system at the moment about the grid and what needs to happen, but we are working very fast to try to resolve some of them.

“I say to Lord Rooker that we may not be of the same measure as the members of the original Lunar Society, in our great city of Birmingham, but we believe that we can meet those targets.”

Conservative peer Baroness Finn, a former chief of staff to Boris Johnson, said: “Over the last few years, successive Governments have set more and more ambitious emissions reduction targets, without a plan for how to meet them.

“We urgently need an honest debate about the different pathways to decarbonising our economy. The road is paved with trade-offs, and we must choose which ones to make.”

Pointing to Labour’s pledge that its energy plans would cut consumer bills by £300, Lady Finn added: “That claim, which they continue to stand by, is bogus.

“My fear is that false promises such as that, and their general rush to accelerate the transition, risk undermining the very environmental action which so many of us wish to see.”