Terra Firma Energy – 14 January 2026

The UK and Ireland are taking meaningful steps towards cleaner power systems, according to GridBeyond’s Global Energy Trends 2026: Great Britain and Ireland Regional Outlook. The report argues that policy-makers in both countries are responding to a tougher global backdrop—volatile energy markets, higher financing costs and heightened geopolitical uncertainty—by pushing measures that strengthen energy security while speeding up decarbonisation.

A shift in policy focus

GridBeyond highlights 2025 as a year of more decisive action, with increasing emphasis on:

– long-term system planning

– infrastructure and grid investment

– market reform

– industrial competitiveness

The report frames clean energy not only as a climate priority, but as part of a wider strategy for economic resilience and national security.

What the transition looks like

Across both systems, GridBeyond expects the trajectory to continue toward electricity networks with:

– a higher share of renewable generation

– more storage and interconnection

– greater dependence on flexible resources to balance supply and demand

Great Britain: cleaner by 2030, with gas increasingly “residual”

The report notes that Great Britain’s electricity mix is already heavily weighted toward low-carbon generation. Over the remainder of the decade, government and system-operator plans point to a much cleaner grid by 2030, with clean sources expected to provide the vast majority of generation and gas used more sparingly for flexibility.

Ireland: grid delivery, interconnectors and RESS at the centre

For Ireland, the report points to the Programme for Government 2025 as setting out an ambitious infrastructure agenda, including grid upgrades, improved connection processes, new interconnection and continued renewable support via the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS).

Takeaway

GridBeyond’s conclusion is that the policy direction in both the UK and Ireland is now firmly geared toward a decade of rapid change—where grid build-out, flexibility, storage and market design become as important as renewable deployment itself.