No. This more a statement of fact than a claim and we don´t have to ignore inconvenient truths.

The government insists the plan adheres to the country’s transition to net zero, but climate campaigners warn against the reliance on fossil fuels.

The UK will face “blackouts” without building new gas power stations, ministers have claimed. Sky News has the story.

The government has said that while it will continue to move forward with its net zero targets and a focus on renewables, gas was needed as a “back-up” – with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak saying climate goals must be reached “in a sustainable way that doesn’t leave people without energy on a cloudy, windless day”.

Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho will outline the plans for new stations in a speech later today, which include a full review of the electricity market and changes to the law to make the plants ready convert to low-carbon alternatives.

But Greenpeace said the plan would make the country “more dependent on the very fossil fuel that sent our bills rocketing and the planet’s temperature soaring”.

Electricity demand is increasing as the UK electrifies things like heating and cars, and the population grows.

Officials have been reviewing how to make sure supply keeps up with demand, is reliable, and reaches the right areas of the country.

Today the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said it was clear the UK would need new backup gas capacity to provide power that can be fired up on demand, on days when it isn’t windy or sunny enough to get electricity from renewables.

That’s also because some gas plants are due to retire in the coming years.

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The commitment to renewed unabated gas was long expected, and the energy industry welcomed the reassurance on how to direct its investment.

But some analysts warned extra gas is the wrong solution to the question of how to meet increasing demand and provide flexibility, and said it was a reflection of failure in other areas of energy security policy.

‘We must be realistic’

In a speech today at Chatham House, Ms Coutinho is expected to say: “There are no easy solutions in energy, only trade-offs.

“And so, as we continue to move towards clean energy, we must be realistic.”

In a statement overnight, Mr Sunak said: “I will not gamble with our energy security. I will make the tough decisions so that no matter what scenario we face, we can always power Britain from Britain.”

Labour’s shadow energy secretary, Ed Miliband, said the plans were only necessary because of “fourteen years of failed Conservative energy policy”, including an effective ban on onshore wind, slow progress on energy efficiency and last year’s failed offshore wind auction.

However, he added that if old capacity needs replacing, Labour would be open to some new gas power generation, too.

Mr Miliband said: “Of course we need to replace retiring gas-fired stations as part of a decarbonised power system, which will include carbon capture and hydrogen playing a limited backup role in the system.”

The government argues the move is in line with its climate commitments to cut emissions from fossil fuels because although gas capacity will increase, overall running hours will reduce, as the gas power would not be not firing all the time, but could be scaled up and down as a backup.

Read the full story here.