Britain 'facing blackouts' unless gas stations built now
Britain could face widespread electricity blackouts unless there is urgent investment in a new fleet of gas-fired power stations, according to an influential group of MPs.


'Very substantial investment will be required if the lights are to stay on'

The Commons Environmental Audit Committee warned that there will be a "generation gap" between the decommissioning of existing power stations and the time when proposed new nuclear stations are up and running.

The Government's energy review, due later this year, is widely expected to recommend a return to nuclear power generation in what the committee said would be a "major U-turn" in energy policy.

But almost a quarter of the country's current generating capacity is due to be decommissioned by 2016, and the first of any nuclear plants will not come on stream until 2017 at the earliest.

The full generating capacity of such a programme may not be available until 2030.

The committee's report said: "Over the next nine years, therefore, very substantial investment in new generating capacity and energy efficiency will be required if the lights are to stay on - even in the absence of demand growth."

Any shortfall would have to be met through an "extensive programme" of new gas-fired power stations, supplemented by a significant growth in renewable energy sources such as wind power, according to the report.

The committee also disputed the Government view that nuclear power was the only way to reduce carbon emissions, arguing that new, cleaner gas-fired stations would not necessarily boost emissions.

In the longer term, the committee questioned whether a return to nuclear power was the right strategy to meet the country's energy needs.

Issues concerning the disposal of nuclear waste, the future availability of uranium, and the carbon emissions associated with nuclear still needed to be dealt with, it argued.

Tim Yeo, the committee chairman, urged ministers to return to the strategy laid out in the Energy White Paper of 2003 which focussed on energy efficiency and renewables as the cornerstones of a sustainable energy policy.

He said: "The Government must be far more imaginative and radical in pursuing the twin goals of the Energy White Paper - energy efficiency and renewables."


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