UK Launches 10-Year Clean Energy Industries Plan                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

The UK Government has, somewhat quietly, launched its long-anticipated Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan, setting out a 10 year strategy to build up the domestic supply chains desperately required for Net Zero.

The plan aims to double UK clean energy investment to over £30 billion per year by 2035, and lays the groundwork for a more robust, homegrown manufacturing base for key technologies.

Key provisions and implications of the Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan include:

• £30 billion/year target: for UK clean energy investment by 2035, doubling current levels

• £700 million public-private investment: into domestic manufacturing (offshore platforms, subsea cables, hydrogen, CCUS)

• £1 billion Clean Energy Supply Chain Fund: to build UK capacity in clean energy components

• Energy cost cuts: up to 25% lower electricity costs for energy-intensive industries from 2027 (via green levy exemptions, network charge discounts).

• Grid connection reforms: new Connections Accelerator programme to speed up access to grid for new projects

• Boosted Clean Industry Bonus: to encourage UK-based supply chains (offshore wind, hydrogen, onshore wind)

• Clean Energy Workforce Strategy: regional skills programmes, apprenticeships, retraining in industrial areas

Among its headline measures, the strategy pledges to commit an impressive £700 million in targeted public-private investment toward new UK manufacturing capacity, covering offshore platforms, subsea cables, electrolyser systems, hydrogen infrastructure, and carbon capture components.

It also extends the “Clean Industry Bonus” and introduces changes to energy levies designed to strengthen the competitiveness of UK-based energy-intensive industries.

Of equal significance is a stated drive to improve grid connection times and remove bottlenecks that have slowed down the expansion of renewable generation and storage; something that the renewable energy sector has been waiting for for many years.

The plan recognises that while the UK has built a strong renewables sector - particularly in offshore wind - the supply chain remains vulnerable to global disruptions and overseas competition.

Scaling up UK capacity will support regional growth and help stabilise costs across infrastructure programmes.

Whilst the Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan represents a welcome strategic step, the success of the plan will depend on rapid and sustained delivery. Industry will be watching closely to see whether long-standing grid challenges, planning delays, and cost uncertainties can be effectively addressed.

For companies involved in project delivery, component supply, and systems integration, it is likely to create new opportunities and more predictable pipelines, particularly in offshore renewables, hydrogen, and grid services.

As always, ensuring that projects remain technically robust and commercially deliverable in this changing policy environment will be critical.