18/03/2024
The UK needs to build new, gas-fired power stations to ensure the country's energy security, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Tuesday.
The new stations would replace existing plants, many of which are aging and will soon be retired.
But the government says the plans do not include measures for climate change-limiting carbon capture.
That could threaten a legally binding commitment to cut carbon emissions to net zero by 2050, critics say.
Mr Sunak, writing in the Daily Telegraph, said new gas power stations were needed to have a reliable and affordable back-up for days when renewables like wind and solar did not deliver.
"It is the insurance policy Britain needs to protect our energy security, while we deliver our net zero transition," the prime minister wrote.
The government did not give any details about when or where the new power stations would be built.
The decision, which Energy Security Secretary Claire Coutinho outlined in a speech at Chatham House in London, is part of a wide-reaching review of how the UK's energy market works.
But the Green Alliance think tank said it "flies in the face" of the government's promise to reach zero-carbon electricity by 2035.
The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit said falling North Sea output would leave the UK ever more dependent on foreign gas.
Labour accused the Tories of leaving the UK facing another 10 years of high energy bills, but acknowledged retiring gas-fired stations needed to be replaced.
Shadow energy secretary Ed Miliband said: "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."
He accused the Conservatives of "persisting with the ludicrous ban on onshore wind, bungling the offshore wind auctions, and failing on energy efficiency".
Liberal Democrat energy and climate change spokesperson Wera Hobhouse said 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 said.
