Experts warn that the UK’s clean energy targets are not realistic.

Labour’s ambitions are a part of a wider plan that will invest tens and tens billions in the transition to net zero via a debt fueled “green prosperity plan”. This plan will be laid out by Ed Miliband, shadow climate secretary on Monday.

Sir Dieter Helm is a professor of economics at Oxford University who has advised government officials on energy policy for many years. He said that neither party’s goals are likely to be achieved on the current trajectory.

In a recent article on his website, he said: “It’s reasonable to assume that on current course the 2035 goal will not be achieved and the 2030 is simply implausible.”

Helm stated: “It [could be] met, but not on the present path and without a great deal of pain for consumers and taxpayers.” The government will have to step up its intervention to make this happen.

Both parties are pushing for a rapid reduction of emissions in the electricity sector as part of a push to achieve net zero emissions throughout the economy by the year 2050.

Labour wants to decarbonise this sector by 2030, if they win the next general elections. The government wants it to be done by 2035 with 95% of the goal achieved by 2030.

Experts fear that the rapid development of wind farms, nuclear plants, and large-scale battery will be held up by slow grid connection, planning permits and supply chain issues.

Senior industry figures have questioned the feasibility of achieving the goals for cleaner electricity. They warn that a major overhaul in policy is needed to achieve them.

Tom Glover, UK Country Chair for RWE, UK’s largest energy producer, said that the targets were “ambitious and would be difficult to achieve”. The government must take immediate steps to help developers in order to “have any chance” of meeting the goals.

Chris O’Shea is the chief executive officer of Centrica and British Gas. He also praised the ambitious targets set by Labour, but said: “You’re trying to find the right balance between having a target that’s very challenging and one that’s impossible.”

How would I feel as a new leader at the beginning of 2025, if I had to accomplish this in just five years? I would feel motivated, energised and slightly stressed.

Last year, about 56 percent of UK electricity was generated from low-carbon sources. The remainder was mainly from gas-fired stations that will have to be replaced, converted to hydrogen or combined to remove their carbon emissions.

Electricity demand will increase by up to 50 percent in 2035 as businesses and households are encouraged to switch from gas-fired cars and boilers to electric alternatives.

Climate Change Committee, the government’s advisory body, has projected that the capacity of the generation system will have to double by 2035 if current targets are met.

Recent warnings from both the National Audit Office as well as the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee of Parliament have questioned the feasibility and reachability of the targets.

Labour’s Miliband claimed that the target is “deliberately stretched” but independent analysis said it is achievable.

To help achieve its goal, the party aims at reforming the planning system, regulating it, and creating a clean energy company owned by the public, GB Energy.

“This is a plan Britain must have. . . “But we will not achieve it if this Conservative government continues to dither and delay, or drag its feet,” he said.

The government stated: “Our commitment remains resolute to decarbonise UK’s electric system by 2035. We decarbonise faster than any G7 country while keeping the economy growing.”

The government said that since 2010, the UK has increased its renewable energy capacity by 500%, making it the second largest amount in Europe.