UK energy production falls to lowest level for 50 years
THE UK’s energy production fell to its lowest level in more than 50 years last year – providing the strongest sign yet that British selfsufficiency is many years away.
Government data revealed that domestic production fell 14 per cent during the year as wind farms struggled with unfavourable weather, nuclear plants faced maintenance delays and coal production fell to a record low.
Sluggish output across all fuel types led to the UK’s dependence on energy imports rising to 37.9 per cent last year, its highest level of energy imports in seven years. The poor performance creates an uphill battle for Boris Johnson, who has called for greater energy independence for the UK.
The Prime Minister said the Government’s new energy security strategy, released on Thursday, would ensure Britons are no longer subject to ‘blackmail’ from those like Vladimir Putin on oil and gas.
But the latest energy report paints a bleak picture of fuel production in the UK. It reveals nuclear output fell to its lowest level since 1982.
The strategy unveiled plans to increase wind, solar and nuclear electricity generation against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has rocked energy markets and sent household bills soaring. A cornerstone is a £120million fund for new nuclear products, with plans to deliver one reactor a year rather than one a decade.
Critics say this will not help consumers in the short term. Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng admitted the strategy was a ‘medium three, four, five-year answer’.
Johnson said he was ‘bringing nuclear home’ as part of the strategy, which would help correct past ‘mistakes’. But Richard Black, founder of the independent Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, said nuclear power remained unattractive to private investors, even with Government price guarantees.
He said: ‘No serious private investor is looking at nuclear, while in oil and gas investors can put money anywhere in the world, and the North Sea isn’t that attractive any more as the good stuff is all gone.’
‘The only way to boost energy production within the UK is renewables. This will happen. Offshore wind, and to a lesser extent onshore wind and solar, are expanding. But whatever the form of energy production, there will inevitably be bumps in the long-term trends.’
Chief executive of energy giant SSE Alistair Phillips-Davies said the current crisis was ‘driven by our reliance on imported gas’. He said the only way to tackle the problem was to boost investment in ‘home-grown, clean energy infrastructure’.
The Mail on Sunday previously revealed that energy giants had doubled the amount of gas sourced from the North and Irish Sea being sold to foreign buyers.