Post: UK and Ireland make significant steps toward decarbonisation says GridBeyond’s latest report

UK and Ireland make significant steps toward decarbonisation says GridBeyond’s latest report

UK and Ireland make significant steps toward decarbonisation says GridBeyond’s latest report

The UK and the Irish governments have faced an evolving geopolitical and economic landscape shaped by volatile global energy markets, rising financing costs, and the urgency of accelerating decarbonisation. Against this backdrop, policy-makers have introduced a broad suite of measures to strengthen energy security, support industrial competitiveness, and guide the transition towards clean power systems, says GridBeyond’s report Global Energy Trends 2026, UK and Ireland Outlook.

The policies introduced in the UK and Ireland in 2025 have represented a decisive shift on the road to decarbonisation for these countries. The focus on long-term planning, infrastructure investment, market reform, and industrial competitiveness have set the stage for a decade of unprecedented change in the energy sector where both countries view clean energy not only as an environmental priority but as a cornerstone of economic resilience and national security.

The report analyses how both the UK and Ireland have moved steadily towards electricity systems characterised by higher proportions of renewable generation, greater reliance on storage and interconnection, and increased dependence on flexible resources.

In 2025, the UK energy mix was already dominated by low‑carbon electricity, with renewables and nuclear together supplying around two‑thirds of generation across the year, while gas have provided most of the remaining third and coal have effectively disappeared from the grid.

Over the rest of the decade, government and system‑operator plans point towards a much cleaner system by 2030, with clean sources expected to provide around 95% of electricity generation and gas playing only a residual and flexible role.

In Ireland, the Programme for Government 2025 has set out an ambitious agenda for infrastructure and energy policy. The Irish government has reaffirmed its targets for renewable electricity and committed to upgrading the electricity grid, introducing statutory timelines for grid connections, facilitating new interconnectors, and holding annual auctions under the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme.

The policies introduced in the UK and Ireland represent a decisive shift. The focus on long-term planning, infrastructure investment, market reform, and industrial competitiveness sets the stage for a decade of unprecedented change in the energy sector, concludes the report.