The Government has announced that it is building new gas power stations to avert what ministers described as the “genuine prospect of blackouts”.
Energy Security Secretary, Claire 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.
There are no easy solutions in energy, only trade-offs. 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. And so, as we continue to move towards clean energy, we must be realistic.
Defending the announcement the Government says that
No other major economy has done more when it comes to cutting emissions. The UK is the first major economy to cut its emissions by half since 1990, compared to the EU who have cut emissions by 30%, the US not at all and China’s emissions are up by 300% adding
“This is the latest step in efforts to reach net zero in a sustainable, pragmatic way that rids the UK of the need to rely on foreign dictators like Putin.”
