How can the UK strengthen its energy systems? And how can it do so in the face of rising geopolitical, technological, environmental and social pressures? A 90-minute roundtable—jointly hosted by Prospect and AtkinsRéalis in February—brought together policymakers, regulators, industry insiders and experts to seek some answers.
Levels of strength
Before exploring future solutions, the discussion began with an assessment of the status of the UK’s energy system today. The broad conclusion is that an increased diversity of supply—including a willingness “to use weather as fuel”—has made the UK more secure than it was a decade, or more, ago.
Yet while many attendees were willing to acknowledge the role solar, wind and tidal play in offering much-needed variety of supply, others pointed to climate change and geopolitical unrest as sources of future volatility. Elsewhere, attendees argued that diminishing gas reserves present a “looming risk”, as does the government’s equivocation over the future of North Sea drilling. Scenario planning carried out by one organisation represented at the roundtable suggests that while the energy system is “really hard to destabilise” risks are likely when “multiple crises” compound.
Hard choices required
Typically, energy policymakers are asked to balance security of supply with environmental sustainability and cost. Known as the “trilemma”, it reflects the interlocking needs for reliable, clean and affordable energy. Yet those needs are often in conflict. As one speaker described it, when you “turn the dial” on one, it impacts the other two.
As a result, hard choices are required. Organisations might conclude, for example, that the cost of investment in order to mitigate against every conceivable disaster is not worthwhile given the relative rarity of a major outage. Others might wrestle with how to balance sustainability commitments with security of supply.
Whole-system planning
As with other parts of UK infrastructure, resilience challenges in the energy sector often stem from system complexity. Consider, for example, that much of the UK’s energy supply remains concentrated in the North Sea but caters for demand of those hundreds of miles away. As such, the grid has effectively been retrofitted rather than purpose-built.
This creates long-term structural pressures that cannot be solved in isolation or by incremental fixes. What’s required, attendees argued, is a whole-system design and delivery plan—one that accelerates grid modernisation; that is jointly developed by industry, government and regulators; and that incorporates storage and transitional gas.
For an example of what can happen when systems are not joined up, consider the 2025 fire at the North Hyde substation near Heathrow Airport. The fire led to the closure of the airport and revealed a lack of in-built resiliency. Instead of functioning like a “ring where if one bit went down the other two would kick in… Heathrow operated like three villages, three points of failure”.
Lessons from elsewhere
Are other countries leading the way in their efforts to create resilient energy infrastructure? A number of roundtable attendees thought so, pointing first to the contingency planning excellence in Norway, Finland and other Baltic states. Their collective proximity to Russia is likely to have had a galvanising effect, turning intent into action.
For Ukraine, it’s not just proximity but conflict that is an animating force. Since the 2022 invasion, Ukraine has blended analogue and digital by connecting to the European grid “almost overnight”, stockpiling old kit and moving all government data to the cloud. It also took the strategic (and pragmatic) decision to buy coal at a moment when security of supply trumped environmental sustainability.
Coordination and communication
One attendee argued for the appointment of a secretary of state for resilience, in post to “bring long-term thinking into government” by pulling different departments together in order to drive change.
A dedicated cabinet minister may not be on the agenda but the government is working on an energy resilience strategy. Announced, partly in response to the North Hyde grid fire that led to the disruption at Heathrow, it will present ways to “future-proof” the energy system by addressing evolving risks, including climate change impacts, cyber threats and geopolitical tensions.
If coordination is a necessary pre-requisite for resilience so, too, is communication. “We’ve got to find a common language”, said an attendee “one that can translate conversations like this into conversations about household bills”. To this end, there was a collective plea to bring industry, government, regulators and system operators together to develop a shared set of practical recommendations. Only through continued collaboration, they suggested, can the UK improve how energy is produced, protected and strengthened in the decades ahead.
Building a Resilient Energy Supply for the Future, a roundtable jointly hosted by Prospect and AtkinsRéalis, took place on 25th February 2026
Resilience is becoming a defining challenge for infrastructure and society. The systems we rely on are under more pressure, expected to adapt more quickly and operate in conditions that are less predictable than they were even a decade ago. The pace of change is increasing, shaped by shifts in technology, climate and geopolitics. That puts greater focus on whether infrastructure continues to perform when it is needed most.
Energy sits right at the centre of this.
It underpins economic activity, enables other critical systems such as water, transport and digital infrastructure and plays a central role in the transition to a lower carbon future. Delivering a resilient energy supply means managing the balance between security, affordability and sustainability across a system that is becoming more diverse and more complex, with growing contributions from renewables, increased demands on the grid and the ever-present need to support industry to grow and compete.
The crux of the issue now is how we move forward in a way that is both ambitious and deliverable, making decisions that stand up over the long term while keeping enough flexibility to respond as conditions change. That is where resilience is increasingly defined in practice.
Ryan Macdonald
Market director, power, renewable and industrial, AtkinsRéalis
