The UK and Irish governments have taken ‘significant steps toward decarbonisation’ over the past year, according to a new report from GridBeyond.
GridBeyond’s Global Energy Trends 2026, UK and Ireland Outlook focuses on how the two countries are moving towards electricity systems defined by higher proportions of renewable generation, increasing reliance on storage and interconnectors, and a growing need for flexible resources to balance the grid.
The company says policymakers are treating clean energy as more than an environmental issue, positioning it as an economic and national security priority as the transition accelerates.
What the report says about the UK
The report points to the UK’s electricity mix already being ‘dominated by low-carbon electricity’ in 2025, with renewables and nuclear together supplying ‘around two-thirds of generation across the year’.
Gas, it claims, has provided ‘most of the remaining third’, while coal has ‘effectively disappeared from the grid’.
Looking ahead, the report says the Government’s and system operators’ plans indicate the UK could be operating a much cleaner power system by the end of the decade. By 2030, it suggests ‘clean sources’ are expected to provide ‘around 95% of electricity generation’, with gas playing ‘only a residual and flexible role’.
Depending on the metric, this could either put the UK Government behind its stated 2030 clean energy goal or right on top of it. That’s because there are two important metrics to consider – one that clean sources will produce 100% of the power Great Britain consumes in total, while the other simply states that clean sources produce ‘at least 95%’ of GB’s generation.
Given the UK Government continues to expect gas to play a role in the grid even under its clean power plan, it’s safe to assume GridBeyond’s report will be received positively.
Ireland’s grid and renewables push
While some in Ireland have criticised its Government for not going as far as its Westminster counterparts, GridBeyond has categorised the country’s Programme for Government 2025 as having set out an ambitious infrastructure and energy agenda.
The report claims the Irish government has reaffirmed its renewable electricity targets and committed to a series of measures aimed at accelerating delivery. These include upgrading the electricity grid, introducing statutory timelines for grid connections, facilitating new interconnectors, and holding annual auctions under the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme.
Taken together, GridBeyond argues these reforms are designed to reduce bottlenecks that have historically slowed down renewable buildout and grid access, while improving investor clarity around connection processes and the pipeline of supported projects.
A decade of change?
The report concludes that the policies introduced in both the UK and Ireland in 2025 represent a ‘decisive shift’ towards decarbonisation, underpinned by long-term planning, infrastructure investment and market reform.
Whether the decade becomes one of ‘unprecedented change’, as GridBeyond suggests, will likely hinge on delivery as much as ambition, however – particularly when it comes to planning timelines, grid connection queues and the cost of capital.
