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 AEDTGovernment hails step towards clean power in Great Britain by 2030 – but the auction shows trade-offs are now needed.
…
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.
…
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. …
…
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.
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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.
Been waiting for this – failures are inevitable, and will help end the fairy tale about renewables.
Any day now…
So true…
Looks like a big cold cell coming over the next couple of weeks..
That will suck the gas supply down rather quickly..
.. and Russia may decide it needs most of its supply, leaving Germany facing rationing.
And if there is no or low wind.. all Europe will be in the same boat…
… so where are they going to get energy and electricity from ?
People who are certain that climate change means that soon there will be mass crop failures and the deaths of hundreds of millions from starvation then scoff at the very idea that it might one day be cold and dark and not very windy in winter. That’s not science, they say.
When even the Guardian is pointing out Emperor Milibrain has no clothes, any day now is coming sooner than you think.
Waiting for over 20 years now.
Same for the nuclear renaissance.
Any day now.
Why the AI slop image?
The question for anyone who thinks wind and solar are going to power modern industrial economies is simple. Take a case. The UK is an excellent one, detailed real time information is readily available.
Just explain roughly where you think power is going to come from one chilly calm late afternoon in January 2028 or 2029. You will have demand at around 55-60GW. Wind, even if Ed manages to get his 90GW installed, will be doing under 10GW, and will have been for several days/ You’ll get minimal from gas or nukes, both of which will have reached end of life. Interconnect might give you 10GW if the calm doesn’t cover all of Europe. Solar will be non-existent. What else is there?
Just say where you think the power is going to come from. Should be easy if its so obvious to you that its going to be there.
Cone now….do not ask such difficult questions the religion cannot answer.
That power will come from Unicorn Flatus sprinkled with a Fair quantity of Fairy Dust extracted from Rainbows.
Or from Reliable Fossil Fueled Back-up.
Since energy prices in the UK are some of the highest in the world, isn’t that a failure? Or something to be proud of?
Some of? I think we are World Leaders.
Readers who live in Europe need to go to
http://www.weatherbell.com
and scroll down to the free Saturday summary ….
get ready for COLD weather.
Good link, thanks. I think I can come to the same conclusion the old fashioned way: looking out the window and at the calender.
Additionally I use my blackout proof high tech equipment that consits of a classic thermometer and barometer…although observing that no bird is flying north yet does the same trick 😉 .
Just that usual Labour Government extra dimension of uncertainty…as usual…
The International System of Units (S.I.) have had to introduce a new unit to quantify stupidity.
Measured in Degrees Miliband ( °Mil ) *Closely linked to ‘energy density’
&
If governments are involved, ‘mass density’
Dense adjective
Synonyms
stupid (informal)
slow
thick
dull
dumb (informal)
crass
dozy (British, informal)
stolid
dopey (informal)
moronic
obtuse
brainless
blockheaded
brain-dead (informal)
dumb-ass (informal)
dead from the neck up (informal)
thickheaded
blockish
dim-witted (informal)
slow-witted
thick-witted
Some of my favs…
Gormless.
Doltish
Vacuous
Asinine
Cretinous
I include this amendment for Australia……..
Measured in Degrees Bowen ( °Bow ) *Closely linked to ‘energy density’
What is it going to take for Great Britain to wake up? Hey have become embarrassing.
Hmm…how about a spanish style blackout, just a little bit longer in duration perhaps?
Seems like the once GREAT Britain is now in advanced dementia.
Just keep saying to yourself that steel prices and inflation are transitory. Meanwhile, use subsidy schemes to craft artificial stability for the chosen players and demonize gas and any others outside the big political tent.
Just keep saying to yourself that steel prices and inflation are transitory. Meanwhile, use subsidy schemes to craft artificial stability for the chosen players and demonize gas and any others outside the big political tent.
There wouldn’t be any threat of a shortage of gas if the idiot Tories hadn’t banned fracking in 2022.
…or if the SNP hadn’t stopped granting exploration licences in Scottish waters.
The UK at the moment is a madhouse. From the Telegraph, which is repeatedly documenting this stuff:
A nurse who was disciplined for calling a transgender paedophile “Mr” is facing dismissal for allegedly speaking publicly about her ordeal.
Jennifer Melle, 40, was issued with a final written warning after misgendering the patient at St Helier Hospital in Carshalton, Surrey, in May 2024.
Ms Melle said she referred to the individual, an inmate from a high-security men’s prison listed as male on their medical record, as “Mr” and “he” while discussing the use of a catheter.
Note that gender is not a thing in English law. There is no such legal status as being of a certain gender. But you can be disciplined and fired by state organizations for getting it wrong. Whatever wrong is.
Note for any local Guardianistas: catheters are clinically and physically very different, depending not on your gender, but on your sex!
Just one of the many medical reasons to NOT change your sex listed on your driver’s license.
Why is Red Ed still around? I would have thought he would have finished his holidays by now and returned to China.
Wind Europe warned years ago that there was a worldwide shortage of the ships required to build offshore wind farms. One of the biggest shortages is in cable laying ships. If Ed has not already got these lined up there is no chance he will meet his self imposed deadlines.
It comes to something when even the Far Left Guardian can see there could be a problem with more unreliable generation.