UK GOVERNMENT SAYS IT PLANS TO TRIPLE SOLAR CAPACITY BY 2030

As a nation, we’re warming to solar more than ever before. Roof-mounted commercial solar panels may have once been regarded as a novelty by many onlookers, but today they provide organisations with a potent range of benefits, encompassing everything from better energy security to improved public perception and effective progress toward ESG objectives.

Now, as the climate crisis intensifies, the UK government has announced an ambitious new goal; under Kwasi Kwarteng, the business minister, Britain will triple its solar capacity by 2030. Obviously it’s a story that’s very much developing – so here’s where everything stands so far!

HOW DOES THE GOVERNMENT PLAN TO TRIPLE THE UK’S SOLAR CAPACITY?

The main thrusts of the government’s plan include a review of planning laws in England, which ministers hope will promote the development of new solar farms on non-protected land. Officials are also going to launch a consultation that will focus on how to make it easier to put solar panels on rooftops, including those of public buildings.

The aim is to increase solar from its current capacity of 14 gigawatts, all the way up to a planned capacity of 50 gigawatts. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) also wants to get offshore wind up from 11 gigawatts to 50 gigawatts, and onshore wind from 15 gigawatts to 30 gigawatts.

Many of the government’s key initiatives are centred around establishing and developing new solar farms, which supporters say could provide enough energy to power hundreds of thousands of homes. But not everyone is fully on board – some plans for new farms are currently facing local resistance, as well as the scepticism of some Conservative MPs.