The policy brief calls on government to ensure that electricity networks are strengthened according to new demands, and anticipatory investment is enabled to support industrial decarbonisation. It also recommends that policymakers provide clarity on plans for industrial electrification, while strengthening data on future industrial electricity demand to create an accurate picture of future needs.
Industrial decarbonisation is fundamental to delivering net zero and driving future economic growth. The UK’s £217bn manufacturing sector directly employed 2.6m people in 2024, while electrification of industry could deliver more than 40% of the greenhouse gas reductions needed by industry to help reach the UK’s net zero target.
Investment in critical grid infrastructure is vital to enable this change. This policy brief, from the UK Energy Research Centre and the Aldersgate Group, features modelling from UKERC researchers which finds that industrial decarbonisation through electrification will increase the sector’s power use by 78% between 2024 and 2050.
Without a clear plan to accommodate for this increase in electricity use, it finds that 42% of large industrial sites will experience power constraints in 2030, increasing to 77% in 2050.
This policy brief calls on government to ensure that electricity networks are strengthened according to new demands, and anticipatory investment is enabled to support industrial decarbonisation. It also recommends that policymakers provide clarity on plans for industrial electrification, while strengthening data on future industrial electricity demand to create an accurate picture of future needs.
Key findings:
- With a supportive policy environment, electrification of industry could deliver more than 40% of the greenhouse gas emissions reductions needed by industry to help reach the UK’s net zero
target.
- Researchers have modelled such a scenario and implications for electricity distribution networks. In this scenario, industrial electricity use will increase by 78% between 2024 and 2050. Increased electricity demand from industry and other uses, such as heat pumps and electric vehicles, will put pressure on the distribution network.
- Without further investment, the network becomes significantly constrained from 2030. This means industrial sites in many regions may not be able to access the electricity they need to decarbonise. By 2050 Yorkshire and the Humber is the only unconstrained region.
- 42% of large industrial sites are constrained in 2030, increasing to 77% in 2050. Most constrained sites are dispersed sites. The most affected sub-sectors are glass, iron and steel, non-ferrous metals and food & drink.
- Policymakers must ensure that the pattern of future industrial electricity demand is considered in analysis to inform distribution network strengthening and that anticipatory investment in networks is enabled. To inform network operator scenarios, the government needs to provide clarity on industrial electrification and the policies that will support it. Without policy intervention, network constraints could seriously hinder industrial decarbonisation.
