OEUK: Climate Change Committee recommendations will create “home-grown” energy crisis

(WO) – The UK’s failures to build enough low-carbon sources of electricity, plus proposals to halt North Sea oil and gas exploration, will put the nation at ever-greater risk of a new energy crisis, Offshore Energies UK’s chief executive has warned.

David Whitehouse’s comments follow publication of the Climate Change Committee’s annual ‘Progress in Reducing Emissions Report’ for 2023. The report calls for a moratorium on airport expansion, a nine-fold increase in the rate at which heat pumps are installed in homes and a doubling of tree planting.

Crucially, it also warns that the UK is failing to build enough sources of low-carbon electricity. It points out that the UK would need to quadruple low-carbon power generation in just the next seven years to meet the UK’s emission reduction targets. This is because 42% of UK electricity currently comes from gas-fired power stations, and because surging sales of electric vehicles and other electric will rapidly push up demand.

The report also accuses the UK government of “backtracking on fossil fuel commitments” because of its support for continued UK oil and gas production and criticizes it for “losing its clear global leadership position on climate action.”

David Whitehouse, Chief Executive of Offshore Energies UK, which represents 400 companies involved in producing energy from gas, oil and wind in UK waters, said OEUK supported the CCC’s net zero targets, but the report’s proposals for achieving it would put the UK at increased risk of a new energy crisis. He said the priority should be on reducing consumer demand for fossil fuels - not on suppressing the UK's own supplies.

He said, “The CCC report's findings are paradoxical. On the one hand, it warns that the UK is being far too slow at building the infrastructure vital for generating low carbon electricity. That clearly means we will need other sources of energy to support the nation while we build those new wind farms, solar farms and nuclear power stations.

“But the same report also supports a ban on exploring UK waters for new sources of gas and oil, so depriving the UK of that resource too. There are 283 oil and gas fields in UK waters, but many are aging, and 180 will be shut down by 2030. If we don’t replace them, the UK will become up to 80% reliant on imports by the late 2020s. We need new fields just to maintain production and so minimize imports.

“Put together, these policies mean the UK risks creating its own home-grown energy crisis – and that will hit home from around 2028. Coincidentally, that’s likely to be when the next government is seeking re-election.” 

“We fully support the CCC’s ambition on cutting greenhouse gas emissions and the UK policy on reaching net zero by 2050 but we need to achieve those targets without destabilising the UK’s energy security and economy.”