In an effort to increase the United Kingdom’s energy security, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s administration has now promised to construct additional gas-fired power plants, despite criticism of his climate policies in the run-up to 2024’s general election.
Announcing in a statement that it would look to build gas power plants to prevent the threat of energy blackouts, the Conservative government hopes to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
As a means of containing exorbitant domestic electricity and gas bills, which skyrocketed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, cutting off gas supplies and igniting a crisis related to rising costs of living, the United Kingdom has led the way in the use of low-carbon energy sources like nuclear, solar, and wind power.
“The government has committed to support the building of new gas power stations to maintain a safe and reliable energy source for days when the weather forecast doesn’t power up renewables,” it said in a statement.
“Britain must achieve its net zero goal in a sustainable way that doesn’t leave people without energy on a cloudy, windless day,” Rishi Sunak added.
In order to maintain balance and guarantee the security of energy supplies, the independent Climate Change Committee (CCC), a British body that provides advice to the state, acknowledged in 2023 that a “small amount” of gas-fired power in 2035 was “compatible with a decarbonised power system.”
Rishi Sunak weakened the administration’s net zero objectives around the same time frame, notably by pushing back the sale of gasoline and diesel vehicles by five years, until 2035.
To improve energy supplies amid Russian President Vladimir Putin’s conflict in Ukraine, the United Kingdom has also granted a large number of new permits for the exploration of oil and gas.
“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. The UK led the way in banning imports of Russian gas and is delivering new sources of home-grown energy: with new nuclear power plants, record investment in renewables, and new oil and gas licences in the North Sea,” the British government remarked further.