The UK government has denied media reports that a flagship policy to generate 95% of electricity from clean energy sources by 2030 could be dropped.

A DESNZ spokesperson said an article published by the Guardian reporting that Prime Minister Keir Starmer is considering missing the Clean Power 2030 (CP30) pledge to keep a lid on energy bills is “completely wrong”.

The newspaper reported that Starmer is considering missing, but not officially scrapping, the CP30 policy, which was a pillar of Labour’s election campaign.

The issue has come to the fore ahead of the upcoming AR7 Contracts for Difference auction, for which a budget is due to be published next week, with discussions underway internally over how much money to make available.

Ministers are reported to be concerned about the costs associated with procuring the amount of renewable energy required to hit CP30 targets, which is estimated to be around 8GW in this year’s auction.

Growing pressure from the anti-net zero Reform party over the cost of living crisis is said to be adding to the concerns that higher prices for renewable energy compared to gas-fired generation could be politically damaging.  

However, this has been denied by the government which has previously pointed to the volatility of global fossil fuel prices as a major longer-term driver of high energy costs.

The DESNZ spokesperson added: “The government and Prime Minister are fully committed to delivering Clean Power 2030 because it is how we deliver a system that brings down bills for consumers and protects them against future shocks.”

Source: reNews