The need for gas-fired power stations will increase despite the race to Net Zero, the boss of energy giant Centrica has said.
Centrica, which owns British Gas, has paid £370m for the Severn gas turbine power station in Wales, which it said would help keep energy supplies “secure and affordable”.
Chief executive Chris O’Shea told investors that natural gas-fired generation will “continue to play a critical role in maintaining system stability through the UK’s energy transition” by “ensuring security of supply”.
Under Britain’s Net Zero plans, 95 per cent of our electricity will be generated by clean sources by 2030.
Renewables already generate around half of our supply, but, because they are intermittent, the country will still need other sources of power, such as gas and nuclear.
Mr O’Shea said that delays to grid connections for new generators, along with supply chain issues and rising costs, meant “the need for assets like Severn will increase”.
Many of the UK’s existing gas generators are set to close by the end of the decade, he added.
Shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho says Centrica’s move highlighted the need to build more gas power stations.
Centrica’s move highlights the need for more gas power stations, according to Claire Coutinho
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PA
The Severn power station, purchased from Calon Energy Group, is said to be one of the most efficient in the UK.
The company said the Severn site is strategically positioned near to growing sources of power demand, including developing data centres in south Wales.
Mr O’Shea said: “The importance of reliable, flexible generation to balance the system continues to increase, keeping energy supplies secure and affordable as the energy transition progresses.
“Severn will play an important role in supporting that journey.
Centrica owns British Gas
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GETTY“With the delivery of replacement capacity being impacted by grid access, rising costs and supply chain constraints, alongside the closure of aging gas assets towards the end of the decade, the need for assets like Severn will increase.”
Ms Coutinho said that, even under existing Net Zero rules, more gas and nuclear plants needed to come online.
She said: “What Ed Miliband never acknowledges is that even under his plans we need reliable power plants that don’t depend on the weather. That means we need more nuclear and more gas.
“Yet many nuclear and gas plants are coming offline at the end of the decade and there is no sign that Miliband has any plans to build more plants for when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine.”
Andy Mayer, energy analyst at the Institute of Economic Affairs, said that the intermittency of renewables meant a back-up would always be needed.
He said: “Centrica’s decision to acquire a 16-year-old gas power station reflects the reality that the UK has chosen to build a duplicate power system.
“One is weather-based, unpredictable, and intermittent. The other is reliable and dispatchable at the flick of a switch, or ‘firm power’, which in the UK is mainly gas-power, given that’s what we have after closing down the option of ‘dirty’ coal and failing to build new nuclear for nearly 40 years.
“This reality undermines some claims about a clean power plan reducing our reliance on fossil fuels or breaking the link between power prices and gas.”
A Centrica spokesperson has said that the purchase was in line with its climate transition plan. This recognises that making energy production greener will demand a combination of assets. The plant also has “potential” for hydrogen conversion or carbon capture, both key for the move to cleaner power.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has been contacted for comment.