The 2030 Decarbonisation Challenge Facing the UK Electricity System

The 2030 Decarbonisation challenge facing the UK Electricity System
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The 2030 Decarbonisation challenge facing the UK Electricity System
The global energy mix is embracing the use of renewable energy. Various organizations in the UK are working to decarbonize the economy. The UK aims to address the problem of climate change by fostering the achievement of net-zero carbon emissions. Climate change is a threat to humankind globally. By 2050, the UK looks towards having a zero-carbon economy. The emergence of new technologies and ecosystems is attributed to the global energy transformation process. The growth of Renewable energy, the rise of new carbon markets, efficient energy enhancement, and the development of sustainable energy carriers are among the sustainable developments engineered to meet the decarbonization challenge. Decarbonization in the economy is set to be achieved through increasing renewable energy consumption, enhancing electrification, and creating energy efficiency. These measures and developments bear economic and engineering challenges. Although decarbonization is beneficial, it will lead to perplexing challenges in the engineering and economic spheres. Shifting wide decarbonisation from 80 percent to 100 percent affects technological transformation and economic development. The UK had set its 2050 decarbonization target of 80 percent, but they recently shifted their target to 100 percent. This move is bound to have various implications on the electricity sector. Attaining full decarbonization in the economy requires intense effort and measures to be used. The paper evaluates the decarbonization levels and the impact of changing targets to attaining full decarbonization on the electricity sector by 2030.
Economic Challenges
Decarbonization challenge targets that the UK aims to achieve in 2050 have various economic implications in the UK before and after 2030. The effects of shifting the decarbonization targets from 80% to 100% are felt in the transport, electricity, and industrial sectors. Based on the electricity sector, the change of targets is bound to affect. Some of the effects likely to be felt on the electricity sector in the UK up to 2030 are discussed below.
* Increase in demand for renewable capacity
Installation of renewable capacity is essential for achieving decarbonization in the economy. Building the capacity for renewable sources and technologies such as geothermal, biomass, and hydropower will increase the cost of energy production, posing challenges to the sector (Galvin et al., 2021, 427). Up to 2030, the UK will be in the process of shifting energy generation to renewable options. Using simply capacity as a measure of decarbonization ignores the varied capacity components of fossil fuel and renewable sources. When it comes to generating GWh, renewable energy sources such as solar and wind produce significantly less electricity compared to fossil fuels. Fossil energy plants, for example, are not affected by the weather, unlike solar and wind energy. Because of this, a larger amount of renewable potential does not necessarily mean a larger amount of fossil-fuel-free power (Galvin et al., 2021, 429). Moreover, even if the technological generation of renewables is enhanced, GHG emissions from energy may not decrease. Decarbonization is a complex process. Shifting energy to renewables in the short term is faster than installing additional renewable capacity in the long run (Energy UK, 2016, 79). The table and chart below represent GW’s projected renewable energy demand in the UK up to 2030.
Table; Projected electricity demand in the UK up to 2030
Year

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

2025

2026

2027

2028

2029

2030

Demand for renewable capacity in (GW)

46.7

49.1

54.6

78

81

88

90.7

98.6

100.6

105.2

110.5

Source; Energy UK
The carbon capture and storage technology will enhance the reduction of carbon emissions into the atmosphere. The shift from the use of coal to natural gas in electricity production is likely to occur in this period up to 2030. Since renewable energy produces low carbon, firms and plants will embrace the energy option and thus shift to renewable Energy (Jamasb & Pollitt, 2015). In the short run, the demand for renewable energy will increase. Natural gas, for instance, emits an average of 400g of carbon dioxide per kWh. These emissions are much lower than coal combustion, which emits 900g of carbon dioxide per kWh on average. The use of wind and solar power will intensify due to increased renewable energy consumption.
* Power shortage and increase in demand for electric power
The increase in demand for electricity comes from phasing out the coal power plants in the region. In achieving the target of 100% decarbonization, the coal and fossil fuel plants will be shut down since they contribute more to the gaseous emissions into the atmosphere. Electricity share from coal will reduce to zero due to the phasing out of coal-fired energy plants (Jamasb & Pollitt, 2015). The aggregate electricity output is likely to reduce up to 2030 due to these policies. By 2025, unabated coal will be completely phased out for plants without carbon capture and storage technology. In securing a net-zero emissions sector, the rise of the carbon price is bound to be effected (Jenkins et al., 2018, 2502). The UK will have reduced its electricity production capacity by phasing non-renewable energy plants.
An actual carbon price will aid decarbonization since it encourages new technology deployment, production and consumption behavior modifications, and more innovation. When the cost of emissions rises, utilities modify the dispatched order of generators based on their GHG emissions, ultimately moving away from pollutant technologies. As a result of rising energy costs, people are cutting back on how much electricity they use. The carbon price will incentivize private finance to invest in new technologies (Jamasb & Pollitt, 2015). There could be an increase in the usage of renewables in electricity production and a reduction in carbon emissions due to increased p...