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Today, the Climate Change Committee has published its Seventh Carbon Budget. This statutory report provides advice to the UK Government on the level of the Seventh Carbon Budget (2038 to 2042). The Climate Change Act requires the Government to propose regular, legally binding milestones on the way to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions, which are known as carbon budgets.

Research conducted by UKERC researchers Ahmed Gailani and Peter Taylor on Assessing electricity network capacity requirements for industrial decarbonisation in Great Britain has been cited in the Seventh Carbon Budget. The work on the availability of future electricity network infrastructure has attracted interest from a wide range of organisations, including the CCC, DESNZ, the National Energy Systems Operator, and more. The analysis identified any potential shortfalls in network capacity in UK regions, as well as at the level of individual industrial sites and substations. 

The research found that:

• By 2040, without further upgrades, network constraints could affect industrial electrification in all UK regions and devolved administrations, except North East England and Yorkshire and the Humber.
• Future electricity demand at more than half of industrial sites could be constrained by 2040.
• Dispersed sites and sites with the biggest power requirements are the most likely to be affected.

The work forms the basis of our recent policy brief with the Aldersgate Group.