Mapping the transition: What does the Clean Power Mission mean for regional prosperity?

Imagine a region transforming from the heart of the industrial revolution to a beacon of clean energy innovation. The new Government's ambitious Clean Power Mission brings both challenges and opportunities for green industrialisation across the UK. Amid ongoing devolution, sweeping local government reform, and the biggest energy market reforms in a generation, this mission raises critical questions about how Combined Authorities¹  can respond effectively to secure prosperity for their communities and businesses.

To bring this abstract discussion to life, Kaya Partners and UCL recently examined what meeting Net Zero goals and local economic development mean for the East Midlands County Combined Authority (EMCCA). This story begins in Derbyshire, the birthplace of the industrial revolution in the 18th Century, where innovation fuelled the factory system. Over the years, the East Midlands evolved into a coal and power exporter, home to several (recently retired) coal power stations. Today, the region boasts world-leading industries, particularly in manufacturing and construction, making it sensitive to fluctuations in energy prices.

To bring this story to life we carried out a detailed mapping exercise (using publicly available government data) to understand the legacy, current position, and potential outlook for power generation assets in EMCCA. This vividly illustrates the rapid transformation from centralised, large capacity, fossil fuel-generated power to a highly distributed, mixed energy system dominated by renewables. In 1990, the power generation was dominated by a small number of large coal power stations of up to 2000 MW.

By 2024, key coal plants have been decommissioned, with gas plants providing the majority of the power. A cluster of solar assets is emerging in Mansfield, alongside wind generation. However, the pace of change remains modest.

By 2030, the scale and pace of change will be undeniable. Solar PV will dominate the landscape along the central corridor and the Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire border. Remaining gas plants will serve as backup generation, while historic wind and solar sites approach end-of-life. This mapping assumes that sites in the Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD) will be approved and operational before 2030, omitting projects smaller than 1 MW which would add a further 76 sites.

These maps raise intriguing policy and political questions for EMCCA and national policymakers at a time of cross-party breakdown of the Net Zero consensus. How will residents respond to the rapid build-out of renewable generation? Who will benefit most from this transition? How can strategic planning drive greater coordination between energy generation, business needs, and local prosperity? Can the region's workforce seize these new employment opportunities, and how can national energy policy protect the region's competitiveness?

In our work and blogs with the UCL Policy Lab, we hope to provide a window into the questions policymakers and politicians are grappling with as we seek to deliver the Clean Power Mission across the UK. The project also shows the early insights that can be gained through the power of location and storytelling, by mapping historic, current, and future evidence and sites.

¹ Combined Authorities are legal bodies set up using national legislation that enable a group of two or more councils to collaborate and take collective decisions across council boundaries.

²  Sources:
Existing energy sources (1920 to 2023)
Renewable energy sources (October 2024 release) - Renewable Energy Planning Database

Background map source: Ordnance Survey (County Boundaries and 1:250000 mapping) https://osdatahub.os.uk/downloads/open/250kScaleColourRaster; https://osdatahub.os.uk/downloads/open/BoundaryLine

Authors: Sam Balch, James Foster, Sara Romby, Ben Louis Hardy, Claire Ellul, Shamaka Chandramohan