According to the Met Office’s latest State of the UK Climate report¹, extremes in weather in the UK are now considered the new normal, with recent warm temperatures far surpassing any recorded in at least 300 years.

Looking more widely at the impact of climate change on the most vulnerable countries, this month’s Bryt Insight covers the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion about reparations that may be owed to vulnerable countries and people. At a more local level, we also review the UK Government’s progress in moving towards the targets set out in their Clean Power 2030 Action Plan, with one year having passed since the Labour Government came into office.

You can find out more about these stories, alongside other updates in sustainability and energy, in August’s Bryt Insight:

Long-term wholesale electricity prices increased in the first half of July, while prices in the second half were relatively stable.

Following the low prices seen at the end of June, long-term wholesale electricity prices climbed at the start of July, due to a heatwave in mainland Europe causing more demand for cooling, as well as reduced wind generation and high coal and gas prices. While the UK lacks the air conditioning that would cause a significant increase in demand, Europe’s electricity, coal and gas prices still impact the cost of UK’s electricity, due to the impact of interconnectors.

Electricity prices in the second half of July were relatively stable, rising and falling within a small price range. This may be due to the increased generation output from the French nuclear fleet. Whilst ongoing maintenance periods have been extended on a couple of power plants, generation levels have increased slightly from the rest of the fleet, helping to maintain long-term wholesale electricity prices.

Short-term day-ahead wholesale electricity prices fluctuated throughout the first half of July, but remained stable in the second half of the month.

Increased wind generation at the start of July caused average day-ahead wholesale electricity prices to decrease, due to more renewable generation supply being available. However, the second week of July saw less wind generation, which caused an increase in short-term wholesale electricity prices, due to less renewable generation supply, although prices did not reach the high levels seen at the end of June. In the second half of the month, day-ahead prices remained stable, staying within a small price range. In contrast, forecasts of hotter temperatures caused month-ahead prices for August to increase, due to an expected increase in demand for cooling.

Looking ahead, wholesale electricity prices seem as though they may increase, due to a few factors:

• Ongoing maintenance to nuclear and thermal generators, which may reduce available supply.
• The possibility of more hot weather, increasing demand for cooling.
• Low wind generation, aside from Storm Floris, reducing available supply.
• The US’ deadline for Russia to soon agree a ceasefire with Ukraine, with possible further sanctions to be put on oil and gas exports from Russia, if they fail to reach an agreement. This could impact electricity prices, as parts of Asia use Russian gas, and may instead turn towards using Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) when the cost of Russian gas increases. This would reduce the amount of LNG reaching the UK, and would increase the price of that which does arrive, which would result in reduced availability of supply and increased electricity prices.

Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO) certificate prices increased in July, as a result of reduced activity currently in the market. Those trades that were made were at a higher price than expected, causing an increase in REGO certificate prices.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the highest court of the United Nations, has issued an advisory opinion that countries who do not limit their greenhouse gas emissions could be held legally accountable. The case was initiated by 27 students from the University of the South Pacific, and was supported by the Vanuatu Government.

The landmark advisory opinion produced by the ICJ affirmed the far-reaching impact of climate change, which could have devastating consequences for vulnerable countries and people, and stated that all countries have a responsibility to limit this impact. In the unanimous decision, the ICJ ruled that those who are harmed by climate change caused by human emissions could be entitled to reparations from those nations who do not sufficiently limit their emissions. Crucially, the ICJ concluded that the production and consumption of fossil fuels ‘may constitute an internationally wrongful act attributable to that state’, meaning that countries could be liable for the actions of businesses in the private sector. Finally, the court opinion stated nations are obligated to make ‘adequate contributions’ towards limiting global temperatures to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

Advisory opinions are technically non-binding for international governments, but are still considered authoritative because they summarise existing law. Therefore, the opinion may hold influence in the future as more vulnerable countries seek reparations and pursue stronger climate action. It will be interesting to see how this ruling will affect climate action, both in the UK and globally. To find out more about the ICJ’s advisory opinion, visit here².

The UK Government’s Energy and Net Zero Secretary, Ed Miliband, recently delivered the first annual State of Climate and Nature statement to Parliament³, emphasising the responsibility the UK has in tackling climate change, and calling it a ‘deeply British cause’. In light of this, we’re providing an update on the progress the current Government have made under their Clean Power 2030 Action Plan, after just over a year in office.

Solar development

With the Government’s Clean Power 2030 Action Plan⁴, they have so far:

• Committed to 45-47 gigawatts (GW) of installed solar capacity by 2030.
• Published the Solar Roadmap⁵, detailing practical measures for reaching their solar targets. The roadmap estimates that reaching 47GW of installed solar capacity would use only 4% of total UK land⁶.
• Granted Development Consent Orders (DCO) to permit eight solar farms to be constructed, that have been designated as nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIPs)⁷.
• Revised their National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)⁸, calling for authorities to prioritise the benefits of renewable energy when reviewing planning applications.

Grid connection reform

In the last year, the National Energy System Operator’s (NESO) plans for reforming the management of grid connection applications have been approved⁹. This is in an effort to prioritise renewable energy generation projects that are viable and ready to connect to the grid, to accelerate the connection process. Speeding up the connection process will help to decarbonise the grid at a faster rate, contributing towards the UK’s decarbonisation targets.

As part of this grid reform, the Government has raised the Transmission Impact Assessment (TIA) threshold from 1MW to 5MW in England and Wales¹⁰. This change is hoped to speed up the connection process for larger rooftop solar PV installations, as it will reduce the number of projects that need to be assessed before connecting to the grid.

Great British Energy

The Government’s publicly owned renewable energy company, Great British Energy, has invested, and will continue to invest, a significant amount of its allotted £8.3 billion in public sector solar, such as on schools and NHS buildings. Most recently, Great British Energy has awarded a grant of £10 million to mayoral authorities for more rooftop solar and low-carbon technology installations, such as batteries and electric vehicle (EV) chargers, on buildings such as libraries, fire stations and community centres¹¹.

REMA summer update

Over the last month, the Government has published its Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) Summer Update¹². In this update, the Government confirmed that Great Britain will retain a single national wholesale electricity market, rather than moving to a zonal pricing system, in order to maintain simplicity and avoid regional inequalities. However, they have confirmed that they will be reforming the electricity market to improve the operation of the system, whilst reducing costs. This reform will help to deliver the amount of investment that is needed to achieve the Government’s energy targets and support the transition to a flexible and resilient decarbonised electricity system.

This will include the development of a Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP) to manage the infrastructure required for the energy transition, and reform to transmission network charges so that they align with strategic and spatial planning.

It’s encouraging to see the progress made in the past year, but there’s still more to do to achieve the targets set out in the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan. We hope to see more record-breaking progress as momentum builds in the coming years.

A new report from MCTD Cambridge has assessed the impact that data centres could have on the UK’s targets for decarbonisation¹³, finding that AI (Artificial Intelligence) could create a 25-fold increase in energy demand from the global technology industry by 2040. This unchecked increase may lead to strains on electricity grids and increases in carbon emissions.

Data centres are central in housing the additional data and processing demands that come  from AI use. With the UK Government’s ambitions for AI to deliver growth in the economy, the report warns that there may be a gap in simultaneously achieving both this goal and the UK’s decarbonisation targets. Some key recommendations have been set out in the report for ensuring sustainable data centre growth. These recommendations include updating national climate and energy policies to incorporate AI and data centres, providing sustainability guidance for data centres, and establishing AI-specific emissions reduction targets. The report also recommends that the Government advocates for international standards on AI sustainability reporting, through forums such as the UN’s Conference of the Parties (COP) and the International Energy Agency (IEA), to ensure a consistent approach to AI monitoring.

At the same time, another report has examined the physical risks of climate change to data centres around the world¹⁴. The report found that damage to data centres in England will almost triple by the year 2100, due to extreme weather like flooding. The report makes it clear that physical adaptations to the design and construction of data centres is necessary, but are not enough on their own; they must be joined by significant global decarbonisation efforts to limit the severity of climate change that will cause the damage to digital infrastructure.

Together, the reports show that the growth of data centres and AI needs to be considered alongside decarbonisation efforts, in order to avoid one impeding progress for the other, if we are to achieve net zero by 2050.

UK Government agrees modifications for Allocation Round 7 (AR7) of the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme

The UK Government has agreed a series of changes to the next allocation round of the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme, following a consultation on proposed changes in February and March.

CfDs are one of the UK Government’s regulatory methods of supporting investment in new renewable energy generation. They are long-term agreements with the Government that secure a fixed price for the power the renewable energy generator produces. This means that if prices are low, the Government will supply the difference, and if prices are high, the generator will pay the excess, creating price certainty for investors and developers.

The CfD scheme has seen recent success, with Allocation Round 6 (AR6) seeing the highest budget yet (£1.56 billion) to support the development of renewable energy projects, bringing the total CfD awarded capacity to 34.74GW. The next auction will be held later this year and will see changes including an increase in the length of new CfD contracts, extending from 15 to 20 years for wind and solar projects. This increase is hoped to boost confidence and price stability, encouraging more renewable generation proposals.

To find out more about this change, visit here¹⁵.

NESO releases their Future Energy Scenarios report

NESO have published their 2025 Future Energy Scenarios: Pathways to Net Zero report. This is their first Future Energy Scenarios (FES) report that has been published under NESO’s new title and role as an independent body¹⁶, and it provides three pathways for the energy system to move towards net zero.

In the report, NESO highlights that the Government’s Clean Power 2030 Action Plan creates a critical milestone, but that momentum in decarbonisation must continue beyond 2030. The report names four areas which are the ‘critical enablers’ of success, including:

• Policy and innovation to enable energy efficiency improvements and manage growth in demand, and to reduce the cost of energy for consumers.
• Higher levels of demand flexibility to offer more opportunities to make full use of renewable energy. James Kerr, Engagement Lead at NESO, also discussed the importance of demand flexibility at our recent event, which you can read about here.
• Support provided for communities to understand the benefits of renewable energy, to help accelerate the delivery of renewable energy projects.
• Increased adoption of low-carbon technologies.

The foundation for achieving net zero has already been set, the report notes, and now it is crucial that action accelerates.

To read NESO’s full report, visit here¹⁷.

The Clean Flexibility Roadmap launched to help reach the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan

The UK Government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has produced a Clean Flexibility Roadmap. The roadmap details plans for creating a more flexible electricity system, which aims to maximise existing renewable infrastructure, minimise system costs, and encourage flexible electricity use from consumers. The roadmap was developed by the UK Government, alongside Ofgem and NESO, and builds upon the Government’s Clean Power 2030 Action Plan.

In the roadmap, the Government commits to providing a governance framework to make sure that all parties deliver on their plans to implement flexibility, as well as ensuring that tailored products and services are available to support consumers in giving flexibility back to the grid.

Flexibility is essential if the UK is to achieve and support a balanced grid that is powered by renewables, and provides numerous opportunities for businesses willing to get involved. If you’d like to find out more about the Government’s roadmap for flexibility, you can visit here¹⁸.

Employment in the UK’s ‘green’ economy has increased by 34.6%

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the number of people employed in the UK’s ‘green’ economy has increased, from 513,300 full-time employees in 2015, to 690,900 in 2023. The ‘green’ economy in this context includes three main industries: the waste sector, energy-efficient products group, and the renewable energy sector, and all three have seen a significant rise in employment since 2015.

It’s encouraging to see that the transition to net zero also brings about a rise in employment opportunities, and you can read more about these findings here¹⁹.

Statkraft agrees a series of optimisation PPAs with Gresham House Energy Storage Fund plc (GRID)

Statkraft have agreed a series of optimisation Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with Gresham House Energy Storage Fund plc (GRID), which will cover 412MW of GRID’s Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) assets. Statkraft will optimise their BESS assets across a range of energy and ancillary markets, to help support a decarbonised grid whilst creating value for GRID. The portfolio consists of 13 BESS assets, located in various areas across the UK, such as Bloxwich, Northamptonshire, and Wickham.

As a result of their optimisation partnership, Statkraft’s optimisation portfolio in Great Britain now consists of more than 3GW. Batteries are an essential source of energy storage, providing stability for a grid powered by renewables, and we look forward to seeing Statkraft’s position in the UK’s optimisation PPA market develop further.

To read more, visit Statkraft’s website, here²⁰.

If you have any questions about how these updates might affect you or would like to find out more, our team of experts are happy to provide further insight. You can contact them on 0330 053 8620 or at heretohelp@brytenergy.co.uk.