Labour’s £116bn plan to decarbonise the power sector by 2030 is “infeasible in the timeframe”, the Policy Exchange think tank has said.

The body commissioned Aurora Energy Research to conduct a rigorous analysis of different scenarios in which the UK could achieve a net zero power sector.

If it wins the next election, the Labour Party has announced plans to accelerate the UK’s efforts to make its power grid net zero from 2035 to 2030. It said the plan would ultimately cut household energy bills by up to £1,400 a year and improve insulation for millions of homes.

But the new report argues that decarbonising the grid by 2030 is a “fundamentally different proposition” to decarbonising the grid by 2035. The shorter timeframe does not allow additional generation from nuclear or bioenergy with carbon capture and storage to be brought on line to meet the target.

This would put more of an onus on accelerating renewable capacity and battery storage to unrealistic levels by 2030 and a higher carbon...