The Shift to Green Energy

by Ian Clarke, inControl Sales & Marketing Director

Embracing the Clean Power Surge: Huge opportunities opening up in renewables for Systems Integrators

In 2024, renewable energy sources accounted for 50.8% of the UK’s total electricity generation, marking the first time renewables surpassed fossil fuels in the energy mix . This milestone reflects the country’s commitment to achieving net-zero emissions — underscoring the growing importance of renewable energy in the UK’s energy landscape. 

Say what you like about the current UK government, but it seems clear that they place real importance in the net zero journey, showing a real commitment to make the UK global leaders in the technology that will drive this effort.

The Government’s Clean Power 2030 initiative estimates an average annual investment of £40 billion between 2025 and 2030 to support the UK’s transition to clean energy. This substantial investment aims to enhance existing assets and upgrade the electricity transmission network, as it seeks to create a robust infrastructure for renewable energy deployment. 

Ed Miliband MP – Energy Secretary said in his open letter to industry on April 2025 said “… this government is doubling down on our clean energy superpower mission – driving economic growth, good jobs and investment across our country.”

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero appears to be talking up the UK technology sector as a vehicle to invest — not just for reducing carbon emission but also looking to drive energy security and GDP growth.

Read more from the Energy Secretary on this

Systems Integrators are using advanced SCADA platforms for green energy applications, both on-prem and in the cloud

Systems integrators are poised to play a crucial role as the renewable energy sector expands. These new enquiries & projects aren’t solely triggered by government incentives, it genuninely seems businesses are keen to develop hundreds of projects for onshore (as well as offshore) wind, solar, waste to energy, biogas, battery energy storage and green hydrogen. Indeed, we know of one entrepreneur who is developing his own solar, BESS and hydrogen solution and currently already running his factory ‘off-grid’!

Skills required for application development

From inControl’s perspective, our skills in project management, PLC software, SCADA solutions, specialist communications and packaged equipment are being brought to the fore — providing this new type of customer with geo-distributed, overarching monitoring of remote locations, for the purpose of maintenance, supervision and metering.

These services are essential for managing geo-distributed, remote renewable energy sites, and enabling effective maintenance, supervision, and metering.

Remote access monitoring and/or SCADA for unmanned sites

Making all this possible is the ongoing development of cloud-based SCADA systems and historians in partnership with our favoured SCADA and PLC vendors of Rockwell, Siemens, AVEVA, Codra and Copa Data — all of whom see remote operations management and clean energy as a real priority for their businesses.

Indeed, we see that cloud-based solutions, coupled with relevant cyber security practises, are ideal for these type of industries, where a small number of supervisors might be responsible for multiple, unstaffed sites, spread over a whole country or even continents.

Integrators like us, who invest in engineers and embrace latest system platforms & technologies will reap the benefits

The UK’s renewable energy sector is undergoing a transformative phase, presenting numerous opportunities for systems integrators like inControl Systems. By leveraging expertise in project management, PLC software, SCADA solutions, and specialist communications, integrators can play a pivotal role in supporting the nation’s transition to clean energy.

With substantial government support, technological advancements and a growing emphasis on sustainability — the renewable energy sector is set to remain a cornerstone of the UK’s ongoing economic and environmental strategy.

In summary, if systems integrators like inControl Systems continue to invest in their engineers, embracing developments from their partners, they can be perfectly placed to attract opportunities from a sector that is growing globally benefitting from all the services and solutions that they currently excel in. 

Discover more about how inControl can help you deliver ROI in sustainability