The UK’s transition to clean energy is being driven by a combination of climate commitments, energy security, and economic opportunity. Legally binding targets to reach net zero by 2050 require deep cuts in emissions, while recent energy price shocks have highlighted the need to reduce reliance on imported fossil fuels and expand home-grown renewable power such as wind and solar.
At the same time, clean energy is seen as a driver of growth and jobs. Falling technology costs, government support, and strong public demand are accelerating investment in renewables, low-carbon technologies, and modern energy infrastructure. This is positioning clean energy as central to the UK’s future economy and energy security.
According to Thomson Environmental Consultants, there are two key factors contributing to the growth of clean energy infrastructure: rapid growth in clean energy production and upgrades to grid infrastructure required to distribute the energy across the UK.
Expanding on this, Daniel Reynolds, Director of Business Development at Thomson Environmental Consultants, comments: “Clean energy generation and the networks that transport it must now grow together. As new developments and technologies advance, the grid must be ready to handle future capacity needs and expand and improve the national electricity grid.” 
Thomson believes this is why the Government’s Strategic Spatial Energy Plan will be critical to these developments, as it provides clarity for communities, certainty for investors and a long-term view of clean energy availability that supports regional economic growth.
With this in mind, Thomson highlights the opportunities and challenges the sector must navigate to accelerate clean energy delivery:
Visibility is key for delivery
The whole supply chain requires greater visibility, including into the strategic plans that can underpin investment and into the delivery timescales, says Thomson. The better the visibility, the greater the investor confidence and the more likely the plan is to successfully deliver on its aims.
Daniel adds: “This confidence can then spread to the supply chain for the development, operation, and maintenance of infrastructure, helping suppliers plan for skills development, workforce growth, and working with training providers to bring new talent into the industry.
“This is one of the strongest ways to keep projects on track, but leads us on to the challenges of skills shortages.”
Skills shortages need to be addressed
The Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM) has long been reporting on the capacity gap and skill shortage in the sector, with both retention and recruitment headwinds facing the industry. We anticipate that this position will be compounded as investment in nationally significant infrastructure projects is unlocked in support of UK Government growth plans.
As clean energy infrastructure projects increase, specialist skills, particularly ecological and environmental, are becoming harder to find and secure. Daniel adds: “The scale of energy transmission development is unprecedented, and having sufficient resources to deliver these schemes is likely to be a challenge. If resources can’t be found for certain aspects of a project, this could impact the overall delivery.”
To secure these scarce, high-demand resources, contractors should engage with supply chain partners earlier than ever before.
Early partnerships are vital
Daniel comments: “Early engagement helps identify constraints and create teams who can deliver more efficiently. Daniel comments: “The more lead time, the better placed to procure supply chain partners effectively and the greater the likelihood of building an effective, functioning team. Having all the key players together, working as a well-coordinated team, will improve delivery efficiency, which in turn improves cost efficiency.
With demand for specific skills rising, this approach is becoming business-critical for grid operators, contractors and design consultancies.
Planning and consultation are critical
From an environmental perspective, it’s clear that underestimating timelines is a major bottleneck to delivering clean energy infrastructure projects efficiently, says Thomson.
Stakeholders often underestimate long lead times for land access, seasonal ecological windows (missed windows can delay programmes by up to 12 months), increased survey requirements from statutory authorities, and the need for very early engagement and consultation to reduce planning risk.
Daniel adds: “Ultimately, we need to invest in skills with the same urgency we apply to infrastructure. Without enough skilled people, even well-funded plans will struggle.”
Alongside this, long-term visibility into future programmes, from government, developers, and network operators, will be essential to giving suppliers, including SMEs, the confidence to scale.
To learn more about clean energy infrastructure, please visit: https://www.thomsonec.com/news/uk-clean-energy-infrastructure/
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