Ratcliffe, the UK's last coal power station, is about to power down for the last time 🔥

It's got me reminiscing about all the times we were told this would cause blackouts

👀 much like we hear about phasing out gas for renewables today Over years, there's been many headlines on coal & blackouts:

2013: "Britain faces going back to bad old days of blackouts as power stations close"

2015: "When coal power stops, how will Britain’s home fires keep burning?"

2018: "How will we keep the lights on without coal?"

Oh dear, some pretty major mistakes made in this @Telegraph article on the Government renewables auction results today.

Some mistakes have been spotted and it's already undergone hefty revisions (see below) - but it remains fundamentally misleading.

Here's what it got wrong 🧵

First, the original mistakes.

The '£357' added to every household's bills was calculated from a figure within the first article

it reported the National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) puts the value of the subsidy applications for offshore wind at £10bn...BUT

Some dodgy claims about North Sea oil & gas circulating in the media today, thanks to an open letter co-ordinated by @OEUK_

Two main points I'd like to debunk, nicely summarised by OEUK chief David Whitehouse on @BBCr4today this morning... 🧵 "We want to maintain our own energy security by providing our own oil & gas and those very companies are now investing in that broader energy transition." 🤔

1) This suggestion that domestic O&G production contributes to UK energy security is misleading

Yesterday the @Telegraph published a comment piece by Viscount Matt Ridley about renewable energy, littered with misleading claims.

What to make of it? 🧵 Ridley says: "Miliband... wants to double onshore wind, quadruple offshore and treble solar capacity. If he has a plan to deal with the resulting volatility & intermittency, he has yet to reveal it."

Or maybe Ridley has yet to find it? Lab's mission doc:

labour.org.uk/wp-content/upl…

An opinion piece in the @Telegraph on Friday by Lord Lilley posed a series of (frankly misleading) 'questions' about clean energy

(Lilley is a former trustee at climate-denial group Global Warming Policy Foundation)

Let's try and answer them for him... 🧵 Q: "If wind and solar are cheaper than gas, why subsidise them?"

Government schemes ("subsidies") provide important financial incentives to developers to take on the upfront construction costs of wind and solar (which can be more than gas).

Some questionable comments made by the Executive Chairman of Ithaca Energy (an oil and gas company with interests in the North Sea)

on @BBCr4today this morning, in relation to the Finch judgment by the Supreme Court yesterday

A short 🧵... Myerson claimed: "Approx 70% of British energy supply is O&G. Now that is a reality that is unlikely to change significantly over the next few years, some may say decades."

@thecccuk shows by 2050, oil demand will fall by 85%, and natural gas by 70%

theccc.org.uk/wp-content/upl…

The @Telegraph is reporting comments from GMB that Labour's Clean Power by 2030 target is "unviable" and will lead to "power cuts and blackouts".

How accurate are those claims? 🧵 Firstly, what's the difference between Labour and Conservative plans?

Labour's target is 100% clean power by 2030

Conservatives' target is 95% clean power by 2030

= not significantly different in scope.

bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

Pretty baffling response to our new energy security analysis in the @Telegraph this morning

where we actually end up agreeing on something...

🧵 1. I'm pleased Kirby agrees that relying on gas imports is not patriotic

But suggesting that we should rely on North Sea O&G and FRACKING instead is pure fallacy

Lancashire isn't Texas & the UK's geology is so fundamentally different from the US's that fracking is a red herring

What to make of Govt announcements this week?

The Government chose to focus on "new" gas power plants - a clear political game

New plants were always likely to be built (under any govt) and it's not a change in policy

It's all about playing politics in run up to Election...🧵 @theCCCuk states: "Meeting residual demand is manageable...and cost-effective with a small amount of unabated gas at the margin in 2035 (up to around 2% of annual electricity production)."

The PM uses this to justify the "new" approach to building more gas plants

A few things happening in the world of heat pumps 🔥

since the PM announced the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant will increase to £7.5k FREE CASH:

- applications up by 173%
- vouchers issued by 25% At that rate, the whole Boiler Upgrade Scheme could run out of vouchers in Dec 2025

That’s about 2.5 years earlier than it’s due to end

So much for “people don’t want heat pumps” 👀

buff.ly/3NcAhD5

What’s going wrong with the UK’s grid connections?

Over a decade to get renewable energy schemes connected to the grid means some very unhappy developers / investors…and higher energy bills for us

The PM and Labour have committed to fixing it. But how?

Multiple players are involved in running the grid. They can have competing priorities & remits = risk of blame game

Grid is owned & maintained by National Grid, Scottish Power, SSE

& operated by separate National Grid Electricity System Operator (NGESO)

buff.ly/3RS4fPK

One week on from the PM's #NetZero speech, what's the impact on 🇬🇧 economy and UK PLC?

🧵 of UK businesses, consumer groups, and trade bodies railing against scrapping net zero policies
👇

Backlash from scrapping key policies on:
❌ insulation
❌ electric cars
❌ home heating @CitizensAdvice said net zero policies were 🔑 solution to cost-of-living crisis, & renters would be especially badly hit ()

ECIU analysis showed bills could ↑ £8bn over 10yrs ()bit.ly/3ERk5ST
bit.ly/3F5A1RX

Quick take: what is missing from Green Day / Powering Up Britain's announcements?

There's been over 30 docs so far, but there are some gaps...including big ones energy efficiency, renewables and industry

(Note: there may be more docs released as the day goes on) 1. Big picture 🔑

First two are likely to come later today, as Govt has to respond to Judicial Review before end of March

- Judicial Review and/or underlying data
- Govt response to CCC's 2022 progress report
- Proper response to US's IRA / EU's NZIA – pushed back to Sept

So, the rumour is that Rosebank oil and gas field will be approved on Thursday, during 'Green' Day aka Energy Security Day aka Powering Up Britain

Why this makes no sense for our energy security, economically, or environmentally ⬇️🧵 1. Energy Security

Rosebank, like most of the North Sea now, is primarily *oil*. The cause of GAS crisis is...*gas*

80% of oil from Rosebank will be exported

& Equinor will sell to the highest bidder

So it won't help the UK with gas security or lower our bills. 👎