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Nearly 1,000km of new power lines must be built to meet the government's clean energy plans, official energy planners have concluded.
In a report, the body responsible for connecting new projects to the grid said Labour's target to decarbonise electricity by 2030 was “achievable” but posed a “huge challenge”.
He will warn that power grid infrastructure will need to be built much faster than it has been over the past decade to meet this commitment.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said ministers were committed to “significant reforms” to the planning system to speed up new connections.
Miliband has called on the National Energy System Operator (NESO) to review ministers' plans for clean energy after Labor returns to power in July's general election.
The body was originally owned by National Grid, a private company, but was transferred to the government last month.
The government is expected to publish its action plan to modernize the network in the coming months.
Sources within the government see its report, which will be published on Tuesday, as vindication of its commitment to deliver a net zero carbon electricity system in Britain by 2030, a key part of Labour's election platform.
But it also highlights the scale of the task when it comes to increasing the supply of renewable energy and connecting it to the grid.
According to the study, meeting this commitment would require a significant increase in offshore wind capacity, as well as increased electrification of heating, transport and industry.
Nearly 1,000 km (620 miles) of new power lines would be needed to connect new renewable energy to the grid, as well as 4,800 km of undersea cables, it said.
The report points out that this would be more than double over five years what was built in total over the past 10 years, requiring construction to begin on many projects within the next 6 months to two years.
He added that this “challenging” schedule will require changes to the planning system to reduce the time it takes for new projects to be approved.
The construction of hundreds of kilometers of new pylons is also likely to face political opposition, with a number of projects facing strong local opposition.
'Ideological'
The previous Conservative government had indicated it was open to the idea of making cash payments to households in the path of large new electricity pylons, alongside existing community compensation schemes paid for by consumers' bills.
The 2030 target is five years ahead of that promised by the Conservatives before the election, with Claire Coutinho, shadow energy secretary under Rishi Sunak, calling it “unrealistic” and “simply ideological”.
There is also some skepticism within the trade union movement about the potential impact on employment.
The GMB union, which represents oil and gas workers and donates to Labour, said any government plans to boost wind and solar power should be accompanied by an “iron commitment to creating jobs quality here.”
Impact on invoices
The NESO report estimates that the 2030 Clean Energy Plan would require an average of £40 billion of investment per year, most of it from the private sector, requiring a significant increase from current levels.
He did not model the impact of his project on consumer bills “given the strong dependence on political choices”.
But the report predicts that wholesale energy prices are likely to fall due to less reliance on gas, whose rises are often unpredictable.
The exact timing of any cost decline depends on how quickly clean energy infrastructure can be built and associated policy decisions, the report said.
He argued that consumer costs were unlikely to increase, as fixed prices for renewable projects would offset the reduced need for natural gas.
It also said the 2030 target would depend on a four- to five-fold increase in its demand flexibility service, under which households and businesses are encouraged to save money by using less electricity during peak hours.
The authority will also begin consultations on plans to overhaul the system for connecting new renewable power plants to the grid, in order to prioritize projects ready for construction.
Currently, some projects may face wait times that extend over a long period into the next decade to be connected.
