How the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy Creates a Generational Opportunity for Clean Energy—and How Olsights Helps You Seize It
UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy Clean Energy Sector Plan was recently releases. In the comprehensive White Paper, the UK Government has laid out a bold, decade-long plan to revitalise the country’s economic foundations. Building on last year’s Invest 2035 green paper, the strategy introduces major funding, reform, and sector prioritisation creating fertile ground for clean energy, infrastructure, and innovation to thrive.
For clean energy developers, infrastructure planners, and supply chain leaders, this isn’t just policy it’s a generational opportunity.
At Olsights, we’ve analysed UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy in detail to understand its real-world implications—and how our geospatial tools can help convert ambition into action.
Clean Energy Front and Centre: One Strategy, Eight Sectors
UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy targets eight high-growth sectors that together account for nearly a third of the UK’s (Gross Value Added). Clean energy leads the charge, with the government committing to double private investment to over £30 billion annually in technologies like:
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Hydrogen
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Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS)
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Small Modular Reactors (SMRs)
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Fusion
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Heat-pump supply chains
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Offshore wind equipment manufacturing
A £1 billion Clean Energy Supply Chain Fund with £300 million already ring-fenced for offshore wind underscores this commitment. Combined with reforms in planning, grid connections, and regional clusters, these initiatives demand smarter, spatially driven decision-making.
The Connections Accelerator: Fixing the Grid Bottleneck
A highlight of UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy is the introduction of the Connections Accelerator Service (CAS)—a new programme to help strategic energy and industrial projects bypass long-standing grid bottlenecks.
Launching in late 2025, CAS will:
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Prioritise high-value projects that support jobs and growth
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Enable early grid capacity reservations
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Shift from “first-come, first-served” to “first-ready, first-connected”
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Integrate with the National Energy System Operator’s digital portal
The goal: reduce grid wait times by up to seven years a huge boost for projects like hydrogen hubs, battery gigafactories, and electrified industrial zones.
Olsights : Turning Strategies into Solutions
UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy does more than set direction it reshapes timelines, unlocks new markets, and defines where and how clean energy infrastructure gets built.
Our Olsights Eye platform gives developers, investors, and planners the geospatial intelligence needed to navigate this new environment with clarity and speed.
Here’s how our capabilities support key pillars of the strategy:
1. Clean Energy Infrastructure Mapping
We already offer comprehensive mapping of the UK’s hydrogen, CCUS, and renewables infrastructure—from pipelines and terminals to storage assets and demand centres. In response to UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, we will explore expanding our offering to include:
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Mapped investment zones
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Dynamic filters to reveal new opportunity areas
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Support for SMR, offshore wind, and hydrogen equipment planning
Helping you capitalise on where strategy meets funding.
2. Grid Headroom and Tariff Intelligence
As part of the REACT project, we’ve modelled transmission networks, connection queues, and transformer capacity. In response to CAS and the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS), we will develop:
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Overlays for BICS-eligible industrial sites
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“Super-charger” zones with potential grid charge reductions
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Fast-track CAS zones highlighting available grid capacity
These tools help identify viable sites under the new rules.
3. Cluster Visualisation and Bid Support
Our platform already integrates land use, transport, workforce, and emissions data. To help local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) and combined authorities align with UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy, we’re building:
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Pre-configured cluster overlays
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Exportable bid maps
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Infrastructure layers aligned with priority sectors
This supports faster, stronger bids into national funding streams.
4. CAS Project Readiness Dashboard
We help developers assess pre-permitting feasibility. Now, we’re building a dashboard aligned with CAS criteria to streamline qualification. Key data layers will include:
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Land control
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Planning status
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Routing feasibility
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Environmental constraints
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Proximity to strategic users
Positioning projects as “shovel-ready” for accelerated connection.
5. Live Grid Queue Tracking via API
Today, we import grid data at regular intervals. Soon, we’ll look to integrate directly with NESO’s real-time queue dashboard to offer:
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Live updates on transformer loading
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Real-time queue status
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Embedded network intelligence inside Olsights Eye
Giving users up-to-the-minute decision support.
6. Impact Visualisation: Strategy KPI Dashboard
We already compare projects based on emissions, cost per MW, and routing impact. Building on this, we will develop more dashboards to visualise:
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Investment attracted
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GVA uplift
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Export growth
All tied back to UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy KPIs—making it easier to demonstrate value to funders, investors, and policymakers.
Why Now?
Clean energy success is increasingly defined by more than just technology. Grid access, local content, permitting timelines, and strategic alignment now shape project viability.
UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy connects these factors with funding and reform creating a powerful catalyst for action.
Olsights helps you make sense of this complexity, turning policy into project success.
Stay Ahead of the Queue
➡️ Book a demo to see how Olsights Eye can give you a competitive edge
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