Renewable Energy: Why Can't It Keep Uk Energy Prices Down?

Huge increases in gas prices have sent UK bills skyrocketing. Can green energy offer a solution?

- By Phil Hart, Photographs by Getty Images

From April 2022, average household energy bills will jump by more than 50 per cent as a result of energy providers having to swallow massive increases in the cost of gas. Gas supplies come from global supply chains that are subject to changing market demands and regional geopolitics. And the pandemic, of course, has created all kinds of anomalies.

But why, in an age of renewable energy, is the UK still at the mercy of gas prices? The contribution to UK power generation from renewable sources has more than doubled since 2014. Yet we're in a situation of dependence on fossil fuels that is going to put a serious strain on people's finances for the foreseeable future.

The most obvious explanation is that the capacity of our renewable sources isn't yet big enough. The contribution to the National Grid averages around 40 per cent, mostly from wind power and solar, biomass and hydroelectricity.

Renewables don't contribute more for very good reasons. By using fossil fuels we have been able to meet variations in demand for power by turning more power stations on or off, or running them harder or slower.

With renewables we are always dependent on weather conditions. For example, the third quarter of 2021 saw energy prices rise because of a lack of autumn winds. Renewable electricity production dipped by 17 per cent on the previous year and gas had to come to the rescue.