Although the Prime Minister’s speech yesterday on the last day of the Conservative Party Conference did not have any mention to the recently reported pledge of Britain’s all-green grid by 2035, the Business and Energy Secretary today shared his thoughts about it.

Speaking at Energy UK’s conference named “Decade of Delivery”, Kwasi Kwarteng said: “I think the recent issue that we have with the volatility of the gas price, incredible spike and then falling back brings great uncertainty to the market. I think it shows exactly why we need vigorously to pursue climate goals and to strengthen energy security, while, above all, protecting consumers and the planet.

“Our recent pledge to decarbonise the UK’s electricity system by 2035 is a key, fundamental milestone on the journey towards net zero. And it will swift us away from volatile fossil fuels and it will turbocharger our use of homegrown green technologies, from offshore wind to hydrogen to solar and CCUS.”

He explained that will create a more robust system, while we are less at the mercy of global price fluctuations.

The Business Secretary said he feels confident that the UK will achieve its goals and for the first time in its history it will not be dependent on hydrocarbons coming from overseas: “Relying on homegrown power generation will protect consumers from gas price fluctuations.

“And it will, in the long run, bring down bills. We’ll use the wealth of Britain’s natural resources to generate cleaner and cheaper power while creating thousands of new high-skilled jobs across the UK.

“The 2035 target isn’t something that’s been plucked from thin air. It’s based on past success and that since 2010 we have managed to reduce carbon emissions in the power generation sector by 70%. In the past decade, we’ve quadrupled the percentage of our electricity that comes from renewables.”