UK Hurtling Towards Energy Shortage Shutdown

Posted on 05. Feb, 2009 by Ross in Energy Shortages, Government Policy, United Kingdom

The United Kingdom is still facing a massive energy generation gap in the next decade and the Government is failing to properly address the issue, according to a top industry executive.

In a column in the Financial Times, Andrew Duff - chief executive of RWE NPower, one of the UK’s biggest energy suppliers - outlined some of the key issues facing the energy industry. With the imminent decommissioning of a number of coal and nuclear energy plants, the UK faces a drop in generating capacity of 12,000MW - a substantial 15% of current energy generation. Three new gas power stations are being the green light today but only generate a total of 4,000MW, leaving the UK with a huge potential energy shortage. In his opinion, Duff is critical of the Government’s approach to the dilemma:

For the time being, though, government and regulators continue to treat the big energy issues in isolation despite the recent creation of the Department of Energy and Climate Change. The drive to set and meet ever more stringent CO2 targets is not integrated with the ministerial push to tackle energy costs and, vitally, the need to ensure security of supply.

Relations between energy secretary Ed Milliband and the energy industry have improved since 2008 when he was accused of failing to understand the gravity of the situation, but his critics obviously believe his department is still failing to deliver the necessary plans to prevent the power generation gap causing energy shortages and blackouts during peak demand times.

Low supply and high demand inevitably leads to price rises, and the energy market is no different. Energy efficiency measures are the best way to mitigate the financial costs of energy shortages, whilst at the same time reducing carbon footprints. For example, government buildings in England and Wales generate 11 million tonnes of CO₂ annualy: more than the whole of Kenya, with the Department of Energy & Climate Change’s head office one of the worst offenders. An almost total lack of energy efficiency measures in these buildings is primarily responsible for their shocking financial and environmental performance.

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