From Watts Up With That?

Essay by Eric Worrall

“… the scariest report out of the energy department … an “emerging risk” of running out of gas supplies by 2030 …”

Labour faces risks on energy despite ‘record’ wind power auction

Nils Pratley
Thu 15 Jan 2026 03.44 AEDT

Government hails step towards clean power in Great Britain by 2030 – but the auction shows trade-offs are now needed.

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The government has defied gloomy price expectations for its latest auction for offshore wind capacity. …

Cue some forgivable crowing from Ed Miliband, the energy secretary. “A monumental step towards clean power by 2030,” he declared. …

But let’s not get carried away. Yes, this auction was Europe’s “biggest ever” in commissioning 8.4GW of capacity in one go – and it again proved the virtue of competitive tension in the bidding process. But it also demonstrated two hard truths about offshore wind and the wider push towards clean power.

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First, the days when offshore wind got cheaper every year are over. …

The second point flows from the first: the rollout of offshore wind at these prices will not knock squillions off the price of electricity. Any downward pressure on bills cannot be enormous when we’re talking about the difference between £91 and a theoretically neutral price of £94. …

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Instead, the most pressing questions in energy-land are different. Is it possible to take a chunk out of the towering £80bn bill for rewiring the electricity grid? If 90% low-carbon is deemed enough, possibly, as retail energy suppliers have argued. Will new transmission cables arrive before the new windfarms are built? That is critical to keep a lid on “constraint” payments that run on to billions of pounds.

And what is the government’s plan for gas? It barely talks about the backup system for cold, windless winter days that will be retained. That is despite the scariest report out of the energy department in recent months being the one that warned of an “emerging risk” of running out of gas supplies by 2030 if an important piece of kit, such as a pipeline from Norway or an LNG terminal, were out of action.

…Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jan/14/labour-wind-power-risks-clean-power-great-britain

It’s getting pretty rough when even The Guardian is pointing out the flaws in your ambitious renewable energy plan.

But maybe The Guardian group is thinking ahead. When Britain’s electricity grid inevitably falls in a heap, a possibility which is becoming more likely with each passing year, a track record of pointing out the problems might give The Guardian maneuvering room to claim the failure was because of flaws in Mad Miliband’s energy plans, not the fault of renewable energy.