Comment and briefing: UK renewable energy and AR7

"There have been many, many claims in the past couple of decades that blackouts are imminent because of renewables, but even as the UK keeps on breaking clean power records, we're yet to see one that's related to the level of renewables on the grid.

"The National Energy System Operator has many tools at its disposal to manage supply and demand and routinely does so, and has confirmed that with increasing clean power the UK will retain our ‘world-class reliability standards’ [1].

"The recent major challenges to the UK’s energy supply have been from the volatility of gas, and every turn of a wind turbine means we need less gas to power our homes. With the North Sea running out of gas whether or not more drilling occurs, a continued reliance on gas power stations means British homes are increasingly dependent on foreign supplies and actors like Putin that control them."

A background briefing on UK renewable energy and AR7 is available to download here.