01 / New forms of secure supply are needed to back up renewables

Over the past two years, energy security in the UK has grabbed the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Instead of planning for a long-term switch to renewables, UK politicians and energy firms have been struggling with petrol shortages and, most recently, sky-high prices for gas and electricity triggered by the war in Ukraine. Even the UK’s own energy security legislation has been put on hold so that the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) can focus resources on the design and implementation of the energy price guarantee. As a result of all the chaos, energy security and energy self-sufficiency have become mixed-up, even if they are not always compatible goals.

This article focuses on current energy investment programmes that provide secure supply as well as capacity. By definition, intermittent renewables including wind and solar cannot provide a secure energy system without back-up. As unabated fossil-fuel generation is gradually phased out, new forms of secure supply are expected to come online including hydrogen. However, in the meantime, secure backup will continue to rely mostly on carbon emitting transition technologies.

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