The Foresight Event 2026

This session examined what Clean Power 2030 means for system design, highlighting that a renewables-led grid will be defined by variability, oversupply, and the need for flexibility. Speakers emphasised that storage, demand-side response, and long-duration flexibility are essential to maintain stability and affordability, alongside planning reform and clear investment signals to enable delivery at scale.

The Day Two keynote and hydrogen markets session focused on moving the UK hydrogen sector from ambition to delivery, highlighting the importance of policy certainty, bankable contracts, and coordinated infrastructure. Speakers emphasised that scaling hydrogen will depend on aligning production, transport, storage, and industrial offtake, supported by whole-system planning and clear delivery timelines.

The data centres session explored the rapid growth of AI-driven demand and its implications for power, water, and grid infrastructure. Speakers highlighted the need to integrate data centres into the energy system through flexible operation, co-location with clean power, and clearer community value propositions, positioning data centres as potential enablers of system resilience rather than a source of constraint.

The NextGen Nuclear session examined how new nuclear technologies can deliver clean, reliable power while maximising innovation, skills, and community value. Discussion focused on the importance of standardisation, supply chain readiness, regulatory reform, and meaningful engagement to accelerate deployment, with advanced fission and fusion positioned as long-term contributors to a resilient, low-carbon energy system.

The Net Zero Industry session explored how UK industry can decarbonise while remaining competitive, emphasising that delivery depends on infrastructure, cost certainty, and practical deployment rather than ambition alone. Speakers highlighted the essential role of carbon capture, hydrogen, electrification, and regional clusters in enabling industrial transition, alongside the need for long-term policy stability to unlock investment and protect industrial capability.

The keynote and future grid session set the strategic context for the conference, emphasising that the UK’s clean energy transition is fundamentally an economic and industrial opportunity. Speakers highlighted the critical importance of policy certainty, long-term system planning, and grid reform to unlock investment, reduce energy costs, and enable electrification at scale. The future grid discussion underlined that delivering Clean Power 2030 will require unprecedented expansion of grid infrastructure, faster connections, and whole-system planning to manage rising demand, integrate renewables, and maintain security and affordability.