Sunak accused of ‘going backwards’ on energy security as new gas power plants announced

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The UK government has been accused of “going backwards” on energy security after it dedicated to constructing new gas power stations past 2030 to keep away from the danger of “blackouts”.

Energy secretary Claire Coutinho will likely be making a case for “unabated” gas power to proceed within the UK’s electrical energy system past 2030 in a speech at Chatham House.

Unabated means the dangerous carbon dioxide produced from these power plants won’t be captured – a measure which limits the air pollution to a sure extent.

The determination is being made to keep away from what the federal government believes is a “genuine prospect of blackouts”. The authorities stated the new plants will serve as backup when renewables like wind and photo voltaic don’t ship.

However, the transfer doesn’t solely threaten the legally binding dedication the UK authorities made to chop carbon emissions to web zero by 2050, but in addition hampers the nation’s energy security, local weather teams say.

“The North Sea will continue its inevitable decline with or without new licences, leaving us ever more dependent on foreign gas unless we lower demand,” Jess Ralston, energy analyst on the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), stated.

“The UK is going backwards on energy security because of the government fumbling its latest auction for British offshore wind farms, failing on its home insulation schemes and dithering on heat pumps.

“Without carbon capture technology, these gas plants may only have a decade or two before they are decommissioned, and who’s going to pay for that?”

However, the federal government claimed that the UK would nonetheless be on observe for net-zero and it was being “realistic” by prioritising energy security.

“There are no two ways about it. Without gas backing up renewables, we face the genuine prospect of blackouts,” Ms Coutinho is anticipated to say.

“Other countries in recent years have been so threatened by supply constraints that they have been forced back to coal.”

“If countries are forced to choose between clean energy and keeping citizens safe and warm, believe me they’ll choose to keep the lights on. We will not let ourselves be put in that position.”

“There are no easy solutions in energy, only trade-offs,” she’s going to add.

The transfer comes after the quantity of electrical energy generated by the UK’s gas and coal power plants fell by 20 per cent final yr, with consumption of fossil fuels at its lowest stage since 1957, based on a report by Carbon Brief.

However, backing the transfer for extra gas power, prime minister Rishi Sunak stated he wouldn’t “gamble with our energy security”.

“I will make the tough decisions so that no matter what scenario we face, we can always power Britain from Britain,” he stated.

The transfer has prompted backlash from Labour which accused the Tories of leaving Britain dealing with one other 10 years of excessive energy payments and energy insecurity.

“Today, the energy secretary has confirmed that, after 14 years of failed Conservative energy policy, under the Tories Britain would face at least another 10 years of high energy bills and energy insecurity because of their plans,” shadow energy security and web zero secretary Ed Miliband stated.

“Of course, we need to replace retiring gas-fired stations as part of a decarbonised power system, which will include carbon capture and hydrogen playing a limited back-up role in the system.

“But the reason the Tories cannot deliver the lower bills and energy security we need is that they are specialists in failure when it comes to our clean energy future: persisting with the ludicrous ban on onshore wind, bungling the offshore wind auctions, and failing on energy efficiency.”

Liberal Democrat energy and local weather change spokesperson Wera Hobhouse MP stated that announcement was “another step backwards on the critical road to net zero”.

“We need to wean ourselves off this reliance on expensive fossil fuels by investing in cheap, clean renewable power and insulating every home,” she stated.

Doug Parr, coverage director at Greenpeace UK, stated: “The government’s cunning plan to boost energy security and meet our climate goals is to make Britain more dependent on the very fossil fuel that sent our bills rocketing and the planet’s temperature soaring.

“The only route to a low-cost, secure and clean energy system is through attracting massive private investment to develop renewables and upgrade our aging grid, but this government has failed on both fronts.”