Solar PV could be the UK’s most significant power generation technology by as early as 2030, with 33GW of installed capacity, according to National Grid.

Today’s Future Energy Scenarios release, which sees the transmission system operator evaluate and model different scenarios across the energy sector, suggests that solar PV could provide 33GW of power by 2030 and 66.2GW by 2050.

Long array of solar panels in bright sunlight

That would be enough to topple solar’s nearest competitor – gas – which National Grid expects to supply 31.7GW in 2030 and 22.8GW by 2050.

Those projections are within the most ambitious and optimistic – and therefore least likely – scenario dubbed ‘Community Renewables’. Within that scenario National Grid has said that solar and onshore wind would “dominate” power generation, with flexibility provided by 9GW of storage by 2030.

Read more: Solar Power Portal