Green anger as ministers promise new gas power plants ‘to avoid blackouts’

The Government is to commit to building a new generation of gas power stations to secure UK energy security.

Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho will outline the need for gas fired power in the UK beyond 2030 to avoid the “genuine prospect of blackouts”.

Ministers insisted Britain would still meet targets to cut emissions to zero overall by 2050.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said gas was needed so that the UK met its emission cutting goals in a “sustainable way that doesn’t leave people without energy on a cloudy, windless day”.

Gas would be needed to maintain UK energy security he said.

Announcing the new gas strategy Ms Coutinho is expected to say: “There are no two ways about it. Without gas backing up renewables, we face the genuine prospect of blackouts.

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

“We will not let ourselves be put in that position, so, as we continue to move towards clean energy, we must be realistic.”

She will defend the move as the latest step to reach net zero in a “sustainable, pragmatic way that rids us of the need to rely on foreign dictators like Putin.”

The plans will include stricter rules for new plants to be built net-zero ready and able to convert to lower-carbon alternatives such as using hydrogen or use carbon capture technology to store emissions.

Ministers say the new gas power plants would run less frequently as other low-carbon technologies such as renewables and nuclear are increasingly brought into operation.

Ed Miliband, Labour’s shadow Energy Secretary warned UK consumers would face “at least another 10 years of high energy bills and energy insecurity because of their plans”.

“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.”

Juliet Phillips, at climate change think tank E3G said: “The UK remains on track to be a clean power leader by 2030, having overseen continued exponential growth in renewables.

“However, due to policy failures over the last parliament, the Government has missed opportunities to build out the full offshore-wind pipeline, to make gains in energy efficiency, or address clunky network connection times – all factors that mean new gas plants have been announced.”

“These must come with strict conditions that new plants can be retrofitted with green hydrogen or CCS in the future, to maintain the UK’s clean power leadership. In addition, more political attention is needed to often-over looked power solutions – like long-term storage and demand side flexibility – in order to get the UK off volatile fossil gas imports for good.”

Jess Ralston, at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit said: “The Secretary of State suggesting that if we cannot control energy prices then we are not secure as a country, while announcing new gas power stations, has a real irony about it.

“Anyone paying an energy bill in the past two years knows that the UK doesn’t control the price we pay for gas, that international markets decide.

“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.”

The move comes as energy regulator Ofgem called for suggestions on how to help protect consumers amid high energy costs and find ways to reduce a record £3.1bn pile of unpaid bills.

“Many people have been struggling to pay their energy bills and this risks becoming an enduring problem,” said Ofgem’s Tim Jarvis.

Ofgem has previously said the UK should consider launching a social tariff for household energy which would see those most vulnerable and least able to pay charged a lower price for their power, but said this is a decision for ministers.