Grandiose plans for a green revolution are great, but first let’s fix our ageing electricity network
Thousands of commuters stranded on frozen trains, traffic lights unable to direct, and 1.1 million people left without power marked out an otherwise normal Friday evening in August 2019.
The failure of a gas power plant and an offshore wind farm had led to a power outage, as the UK electricity network failed to handle the sudden imbalance in power being pumped into the system.
It was a rare event, but a stark insight into the problems that could become more regular if the challenge of developing a sustainable energy system is not addressed.
Successive governments have sought to position themselves as the administration that will “fix” the issue of balancing our hunger for energy with the need to decarbonise the economy. The most recent call to arms from the Prime Minister listed a 10-point plan which, Boris Johnson hopes, will help spark a “green industrial revolution”.
The commitment is admirable. According to the plan, wind farms — the blight of coastlines for some, saviours of the planet and its wildlife for others — will produce four times the energy that they currently do by 2030. That’s enough to keep the lights on and the kettle boiling in every home across the UK.
Hydrogen will heat an entire town by the end of the decade; we will be banned from buying gas-guzzling cars in the not-so-distant future; and half a billion pounds will go to building out nuclear power options.
This all marks a clear direction from the nation’s policymakers, but have the plans been properly thought through?
Cleaner and renewable sources of energy will certainly be vital to hit government targets to reach net-zero by 2050, yet we cannot escape the fact that these sources of power are by their very nature intermittent and unpredictable. When the wind does not blow and the sun is not shining, how can we balance continued demand from households making a cup of tea during half-time in the FA Cup final against a sudden fall in supply?
This is the key question that we must address if we want to avoid a future plagued by outages similar to August 2019.
Before grandiose plans are put in place to increase the amount of renewable energy being generated, we must first work to upgrade and develop the infrastructure of the country’s ageing electricity network.
Dating back to the mid-1930s, the network was originally designed to handle and connect energy generated from a few large, powerful coal plants, not the varied and increasing number of individual generators we now have. It does not have the capacity to accommodate fluctuating power from renewable sources, nor to store the extra power generated on sunny or windy days for use on grey, calm days — of which the UK has many.
These building blocks are where the focus should be in the coming years, particularly if the energy system is to be sustainable over the long term.
Arguably this infrastructure is the most important component to get right to ensure that cleaner energy can be used efficiently and have its intended impact — that is, displacing the need for fossil fuels by supplying consistent and reliable power across the country. What good can it do to boost the capacity of offshore wind, or of solar and hydro power, if the energy they generate is frittered away and wasted?
Developing the sophisticated technology needed to expand the capacity of battery storage — where surplus energy can be kept and tapped into when demand spikes — will be key to making sure renewable energy can also be a sustainable source of power. Upgrading the network itself will also be crucial if we want it to handle the intermittency that is part and parcel of harnessing cleaner energy sources.
The UK, with its green consensus, net-zero goal and vast technical expertise in the sector, could very well take the lead on sustainable energy on the global stage. But it first must focus itself on improving its own flexible energy generation and ensuring there is balance in the system.
UK leadership in this field will be key to supporting the rest of the world in decarbonising — particularly at a time when for many nations the ambition of net-zero emissions is a mere pipe dream. Working out how to balance ageing systems with the need to build out renewable power is a priority for many countries around the world. Harnessing the skills to solve the imbalances here on our own shores will be crucial as we step out of our so-called “carbon bubble” and look to global, joined-up efforts to tackle what is evidently a global problem.
With the UK due to host the postponed UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) next autumn, and set to take on the presidency of the G7 in 2021, this could mark a prime opportunity to take the reins of the climate change debate. However, only after we acknowledge and address the shortcomings of our own system can the UK can lead the way in ensuring not only a cleaner but a more sustainable energy system for the future — one that does not have to sacrifice the natural environment to achieve growth and development.
It is possible, it can be done, and the world needs a global leader to step into the void and make it happen.
Main image credit: Getty