UK Grid Operator Warns of Major Energy Transition Challenges

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Irina is a writer for Oilprice.com with over a decade of experience writing on the oil and gas industry.

Britain’s transition to a low-carbon energy system is fraught with challenges, the new state-owned grid operator has warned in a report.

Massive investments in transmission and demand pattern changes are among these, the National Energy System Operator said in the document, released today, as well as keeping natural gas-fired power plants as backup reserves even after the transition targets have been hit.

The pace of expansion in alternative generation capacity would also need to speed up considerably to meet these targets. In the next two annual renewable energy auctions, Britain would need to approve more offshore capacity than it has approved in the last six auctions, the grid operator said, to build between 28 and 35 GW in new capacity by 2030.

Onshore wind power capacity would need to double by that year, to 27 GW, the NESO also said, and solar power capacity would need to expand threefold to 47 GW from the current 15 GW.

The transition in line with government plans would require annual investments of some 40 billion pounds, or about $52 billion, with some of it going towards the construction of almost 2,700 miles of offshore cables and 620 miles of onshore cables, the NESO reported.

Meanwhile, even as wind and solar expand, Britain will need to keep its gas-fired power plants as a backup for when those two do not generate enough. Currently, gas-fired capacity accounts for about a third of the country’s total, but this should decline to 5% by 2030, per transition plans. Yet none of the currently operating gas-fired plants would be closed, being kept on standby in case of need.

Interestingly, the National Energy System Operator concludes in its report that despite the need for more investments in the transition and keeping gas power plants online, maintaining the UK’s energy system would cost no more in 2030 than it does now.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

UK Grid Operator Warns of Major Energy Transition Challenges | OilPrice.com