Rishi Sunak announces new gas power stations

[UndercoverElephant]

https://archive.is/yG4Ht

Britain will build new gas power stations, Rishi Sunak has said, as he vows not to risk blackouts to achieve net zero.
The country will need gas as a back-up when there is not enough wind or sun to create renewable energy, the Prime Minister says in an article for The Telegraph.

Despite having pledged to phase out fossil fuels by 2050 to achieve net zero carbon emissions, Mr Sunak says new gas power stations will ensure energy security and therefore the safety of the nation.

Writing in The Telegraph, he says: “When the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing, this is how we will keep your lights on and your bills down.
“It is the insurance policy Britain needs to protect our energy security, while we deliver our net zero transition.”

[Ralphw2]

Labour are not objecting to the policy. This is the result of underinvestment in the power grid upgrades , the onshore wind ban, and incompetent offshore wind auctions.

These will be peaker units to provide power for short periods. In total they will provide about 2 percent of aUK electricity (although total production will be higher than now).

This is bad optics for the UK , further backtracking on previous climate promises

[adam2]

A LITTLE natural gas burning may be unavoidable if we are to have a reliable electricity supply.
Before building more gas burning capacity we should be substantially expanding both wind and solar capacity, and also building more pumped storage and more utility scale battery storage.
Interconnectors can help but we should avoid becoming unduly reliant on these, we should aim to export at least as much electricity as we import.

[clv101]

It's a weird announcement. Pretty much everyone accepts the need for these new CCGTs, Climate Chance Committee accepts role for gas. With this announcement it's almost as if they are trying to be *seen* to acting at odds with Net Zero, but in reality this is in line with the plan.

[UndercoverElephant]

It's a weird announcement. Pretty much everyone accepts the need for these new CCGTs, Climate Chance Committee accepts role for gas. With this announcement it's almost as if they are trying to be *seen* to acting at odds with Net Zero, but in reality this is in line with the plan.

It is a desperate attempt to claw back some lost voters from the tory right, but I doubt it will work.

[BritDownUnder]

Australia has also announced plans for more gas power stations. The new Aussie ones are all open cycle as they will be needed to pick up and supply demand near to sunset when the rooftop solar generation begins to decline and also to cover the dreaded "dunkelflaute".

In my opinion pumped hydro would be better than OCGT but they never ask my opinion.