Gridunlocked: New flagship report reveals potential socioeconomic benefits of more ambitious investment in the UK's electricity grid

A new flagship study by Arup, with economic modelling conducted by Cambridge Econometrics, reveals the potential socioeconomic benefits of more ambitious investment in the UK's electricity grid up to 2040. 

To better understand the potential economic benefits of upgrading the UK’s electricity grid to meet the 2050 net zero target, two scenarios were used to assess different grid investment pathways and varying levels of low‑carbon technology deployment:

Underpowered - a lower ambition scenario which assumes that grid investment continues on a trajectory to meet the current low-carbon projects pipeline of £194 billion by 2050.
 
Supercharged - a more ambitious scenario which assumes grid investment of £228 billion by 2050 to ensure the UK's net zero targets are met through greater electrification and higher deployment of low-carbon technology.

Results show that under a Supercharged scenario, an additional £194 billion in gross value added (GVA) would be unlocked. This unlocked GVA would also support an average of 92,000 additional jobs each year. 

Sectors that would benefit the most from this investment stimulus are services, property, and construction, generating £95 billion, £33 billion, and £20 billion in additional GVA respectively by 2040.

Conceptualised by Arup and Man Bites Dog, the scenarios are aligned with the assumptions from NESO's Future Energy Scenarios (2025) and were simulated through Cambridge Econometrics' macroeconomic model E3ME.