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Clean power targets

This page is a short summary of the full PDF report Clean Power targets

The UK government set out its Clean Power 2030 targets at the end of 2024. The latest data shows:

• Generation from clean sources was 60% of the amount of electricity consumed. The target for 2030 is 100%
• Clean sources produced 66.1% of UK generation against a target of 95% by 2030
• The carbon intensity of generation was 147of CO₂ per kWh of generation. The target for 2030 is to reduce this to below 50g of CO₂ per kWh

Scope of this briefing

This briefing gives some background on the Clean Power targets, including how they are defined, looks at progress on these targets and includes related data on different types of clean power, new generation under construction and the share of clean generation in other countries.

The clean power targets are for Great Britain. Despite this, the data used in the government's action plan is for the UK, as is most of the data in this briefing. The data the government uses will be reviewed in the future.

Background

The Labour Party made a ‘national mission for clean power by 2030’ a key part of its manifesto for the 2024 general election.

In December 2024, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) published its Clean Power 2030 Action Plan. This set out the government’s pathway to a clean power system and what it plans to do to achieve this. It included details of how the clean power target will be defined:

In a typical weather year, the 2030 power system will see clean sources produce at least as much power as Great Britain consumes in total over the whole year, and at least 95% of Great Britain’s generation; reducing the carbon intensity of our generation from 171gCO₂e/kWh [grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilowatt hour] in 2023 to well below 50gCO₂e/kWh in 2030.

The action plan says that “The shift to a clean power system by 2030 forms the backbone of the transition to net zero”. This will initially be through cutting fossil fuel emissions from power generation and later through displacing fossil fuels in other sectors including transport and heating.

The government defines clean power as current generation from renewables and nuclear plus future low carbon technologies such as gas with carbon capture and storage. This briefing follows the government’s approach by using the term ‘clean power’ to refer to electrical energy generated from these low carbon sources.

What are the Clean Power 2030 targets?

The government’s Clean Power Action Plan defined the 2030 target for the first time. It explained the target means Great Britain will produce enough clean power to meet its annual electricity demand, “backed up by unabated gas supply to be used only when essential”. This means moving to an electricity system with the following characteristics in a typical weather year:

• Metric 1a: Clean sources produce at least as much power as Great Britain consumes in total
• Metric 1b: Clean sources produce at least 95% of Great Britain’s generation
• Metric 2: Reduce the carbon intensity of electricity generation to below 50gCO2e/kWh

How is the UK performing on these targets?

Sources: DESNZ, Energy Trends: UK renewables (Table 6.1), DESNZ, Energy Trends: UK Electricity (Tables 5.1, 5.2 and 5.14)

How is clean power defined?

The action plan says that clean power (electricity) includes renewables (wind, solar and bioenergy), nuclear, gas with carbon capture and storage and hydrogen to power. The technical annex published alongside the action plan provides further detail on how clean power will be defined. Measurement of the targets will exclude generation produced by energy from waste and smaller combined heat and power plants which are described as “primarily solutions for waste management and industrial use” respectively.

How have different types of UK clean generation grown since the late 1990s?

Sources: DESNZ, Digest of UK Energy Statistics 2026 (electricity table 5.15 and renewables table 6.2);  DESNZ, Energy Trends UK renewables (Table 6.1) and UK Electricity

Nuclear output has declined over time from almost 100 TWh in the late 1990s to just under 36 TWh in 2025. Renewable generation increased from just under 10 TWh in the late 1990s to 153TWh in 2025.

Renewable output overtook nuclear output in 2014. The fastest period of growth for renewables was between 2012 and 2020, when the average increase was almost 12 TWh a year.

There was rapid growth in generation from bioenergy and onshore wind in the early 2010s. Growth in these sources stalled in the late 2010s and early 2020s, since when most of the increase in renewable output has been in offshore wind.

In 2024, clean power made up 90% of generation in Scotland, 63% in England, 44% in Northern Ireland and 34% in Wales. 

How much clean electricity do other countries produce?

Source: EMBER, Yearly Electricity Data (accessed 3 August 2026)

Sweden and France have long produced nearly all their electricity from clean sources. In 2025, Sweden produced 40% of its generation from hydroelectric sources, 27% from nuclear and 23% from wind. In the same year, France produced 69% of its generation from nuclear, 10% from hydroelectric sources and 8% from wind.

Denmark is notable for recording the largest sustained growth in clean energy generation, rising from 16% in 2000 to 94% in 2025. 59% of Denmark’s generation came from wind in 2025, the highest of any of the EU and G7 countries.

What share do variable renewables like winds and solar make up?

The UK government expects that most of the UK’s clean generation in 2030 will come from variable renewables: wind and solar. The National Energy System Operator's (NESO) clean power pathways estimate that the total amount of clean generation from variable renewables in the UK will be between 77% and 82% of generation in 2030.

Many of the EU and G7 countries with the largest shares of clean generation rely on nuclear power or ‘firm’ renewables such as hydroelectric sources or bioenergy. Denmark stands out as having the highest share of variable renewable generation at 72% in 2025. 

Great Britain’s share of variable renewable generation would have to increase at a much faster rate than previously up to 2030 to meet the shares outlined in the NESO pathways. It would also need to increase at a faster rate for a sustained period of time than managed by any other G7 or EU country.

Local area data

This briefing uses UK-wide data for most statistics, but also includes a breakdown of clean generation and demand across the UK in section 2.1 of the full PDF report. The government publishes data on Renewable power at a local authority level and its Renewable Energy Planning Database and associated map includes local area data on projects at all stages in the planning process including those which are operational. 

Further information

The Library briefing on the Contracts for Difference Scheme includes data and background on this scheme which supports new large scale renewable generation.

Official data on nuclear and renewable output and capacity is available at:

• Renewables statistics
• Electricity statistics

Quarterly updates on the progress of renewabes projects through the plannign system are produced in the Renewable Energy Planning Database: quarterly extract.

The National Energy System Operator (NESO) published monthly data on the generation mix and carbon intensity of generation in Great Britain. It also produces annual summaries. Their data only covers larger generators in Great Britain so can be different from the official data which includes all generators and covers the whole of the UK.

There are a number of different websites and apps which give near-live data on the generation mix, electricity deman, imports/exports and carbon intensity. These include National Grid: Live by Kate Morley and the NESO app.