Latest news with #KathrynPorter
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How net zero made Ed Miliband the ‘dark lord of high-cost Britain'
Ed Miliband has a problem. While his net zero crusade has long promised cheaper energy for households, a new report this week will point to a wildly different reality. According to analysis by consultant Kathryn Porter, green levies on energy bills will hit £20bn by the end of the decade. Staggeringly, this is up from £5bn in 2015, as the vast cost of Miliband's radical clean energy ambitions rapidly adds up. As part of Porter's report into green levies, The True Affordability of Net Zero, she claims the renewables obligation scheme – which is responsible for supporting wind farm construction – is alone adding £7.8bn a year to power bills. That is despite it being closed to new entrants seven years ago. Its successor, the Contracts for Difference scheme (CfD), is adding another £2.3bn, she says. The scale of the increase in levies over the past decade has alarmed many in the industry who question whether Miliband has a democratic mandate to raise such huge sums via a levy system that few consumers understand. 'If this money was being raised through taxation, it would be scrutinised by the Treasury, the Office for Budget Responsibility, and by voters at general elections,' says Porter. 'But instead, Miliband is taking these subsidies from the pockets of consumers and giving them to renewable generators – without ever having had to win approval for the idea in an election. 'This mattered less in the past because the amounts were much smaller, but they have become far too large to stay in the shadows.' As part of her analysis, Porter analysed 10 levies that are eventually added to the bills paid by households and businesses. She argues that the imposition of such levies is what has led to the UK paying the highest industrial electricity prices in the world, as well as the fourth-highest domestic power prices. 'The costs are paid by consumers based on policy choices designed to support renewable generation and the drive to net zero,' says Porter. The relative lack of scrutiny applied to such levies worries other energy experts too. Tom Smout, a leading analyst at energy specialists LCP Delta, says: 'Energy levies are central to the economy but are mostly not counted as taxes so they are excluded from the Government's main balance sheets. 'Taxes are treated differently. They show up in all the government accounts and are scrutinised by the Treasury and the Office for Budget Responsibility. And both those organisations tend to favour progressive taxation because it frees up people's money and promotes growth.' Renewables also have other hidden costs that appear on bills, such as connection and network fees. A gas-fired power station, for example, needs far fewer cables and substations to connect to the grid than the multiple wind farms needed to generate the same output. Consumers subsidise the cost of those cables and substations via the network charges added to bills. Wind farms also generate curtailment costs if they have to be switched off, while there are balancing costs to compensate for the intermittency of wind. Those charges, estimated at over £1bn last year, are also added to bills. All of which means that Miliband's argument that net zero will reduce bills by £300 by 2030 is looking increasingly shaky. Chris O'Shea, chief executive of British Gas owner Centrica, reinforced that point this week when he warned politicians against claiming renewables would cut bills. The shift to renewable power 'will not materially reduce UK electricity prices from current levels', he said. 'They may give price stability, and avoid future price spikes based on the international gas market, but they will definitely not reduce the price.' O'Shea's analysis centred on the role of one particular levy, the CfD system, under which the Government guarantees developers an inflation-linked minimum price for each megawatt hour of electricity they produce. That subsidy has added £7.8bn to bills since it was introduced in 2017, according to the Renewable Energy Foundation (REF). In a separate report, it warned that as more wind, solar and other low-carbon energy is added to the system, those costs could hit £11bn a year. John Constable, REF director, says Miliband's oversight of such huge levies had made him the 'dark lord of high-cost Britain'. He compared his policymaking to that of Rachel Reeves, whose spending decisions are scrutinised within an inch of their life. 'The Department of Energy Security and Net Zero has less absolute power, but it operates in the shadows where few can see what it is doing, meaning it can transfer wealth with what amounts to impunity,' he says. Such comments pose an awkward question for Labour. Miliband has repeatedly promised that the shift to clean energy would save money, claiming that Britain will avoid another energy crisis by ending its reliance on fossil fuels. But gas prices have fallen in recent months and, with the world facing a glut of gas in the next few years, will probably fall further. That means it is the levies attached to renewables that will be to blame for keeping Britain's electricity prices among the world's highest. Dieter Helm, professor of energy policy at Oxford University, warned about the growing impact of energy levies in a recent speech 'Levies, what I would call subsidies in our energy bills, are already about 25pc of the total for consumers,' he says. 'This isn't just analytics or neat little intellectual points. This is really serious. 'Because not only does it undermine the growth mission but driving up energy prices does not seem to me to be a good way of maximising competitiveness, particularly against the United States and China. It's true for much of Europe too, but it's worse here.' But if accelerating the drive to net zero meant more levies and higher bills, why did Labour and Ed Miliband target 2030 for decarbonising the grid? Prof Helm believes it was a deliberate political ploy. 'What the Government has done, and it seems to me, to be a deliberate policy, is to try to use net zero as a wedge between Labour and the Conservatives and everybody else, apart from perhaps the Liberal Democrats,' he said. 'It's been deliberately designed to be divisive, to divide lines. That's what the spin is all about. Well, that's really bad news for investors and for the continuity of climate change policy in the UK. 'Energy and climate policy is long-term. If you decide to set a new deadline of 2030 for net zero electricity because the Conservatives had 2035 as their target, then you have to pay whatever it costs to achieve that target.' If he is right, then the levies already buried in our bills are partly the product of short-term politicking rather than long-sighted investment policies. And it's Britain's consumers and businesses that will pay the price. The politicking has, however, worked up to a point. The Conservatives, only just out of a government that was firmly committed to net zero, have done a complete about-turn. Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the Opposition, has pronounced that net zero is now unachievable by 2050 and insists that cheap energy must come first. Claire Coutinho, the former energy secretary, said: 'We committed to no new green levies in the Conservative manifesto. The temptation for a Labour Government trying to hide the costs of net zero is to pile all the hidden costs on to people's energy bills. 'This is completely self-defeating, as it will just cripple British industry and slash household incomes. It's the exact opposite of the £300 off bills that Ed Miliband promised voters at the general election. That's why we've said that cheap energy must come first. And lots of it.' But what Miliband may not have expected when announcing his net zero plan less than a year ago was the rise of Reform. Nigel Farage and his deputy, Richard Tice, see energy prices and the rollout of pylons, cables, turbines and giant solar farms on England's green shires as a key campaigning issue. Tice, energy spokesman for Reform, said its success in the recent county council elections stemmed from opposition to net zero, suggesting that Miliband may have badly miscalculated. 'Green levies hit the lowest paid the most, as this group has the least margin for change,' he says. 'New levies are set to be added to those we already have, suggesting that bills will go up, not down. 'They are all a hidden tax which voters increasingly see as lacking scrutiny and accountability. And they are voting accordingly.' Even so, Miliband has so far indicated he will stick with his green levies. An Energy Department spokesman said criticism of the levy system was 'categorically false, ignores the benefits of clean power and significantly overestimates the costs of renewables'. 'Levies drive investment in renewables and other generation technologies, which will secure Britain's energy independence and protect bill-payers from future energy shocks,' they added. However, the Energy Secretary can't escape the growing criticism. Matthew Chadwick, at Cornwall Insight, says: 'The current structure is now increasingly out of step with our net zero ambitions. 'As we move to decarbonise the energy system, we're asking people to switch to electricity, yet the current system means those who do so often face higher bills because they're paying policy costs on both their heating and everyday electricity use. 'This penalises those who don't have access to the gas grid and discourages the uptake of low-carbon technologies like heat pumps and electric vehicles.' Constable, of REF, is more blunt: 'The net zero undertaking is without doubt the single largest intervention in the British economy since the Second World War, and yet no one has even a glimmering of its total costs and opportunity costs. 'We are flying blind.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Belfast Telegraph
30-04-2025
- Climate
- Belfast Telegraph
Could net zero be to blame for Spain and Portugal blackouts?
Spain and Portugal underwent massive blackouts nationwide. Although power has been restored now, investigations are ongoing as to what caused the blackouts. Tens of millions of people across both countries were left without electricity, with vast knock-on effects from grounded flights and disrupted public transit to a lack of internet access and communications. Although the cause is still being investigated, the blackout was first blamed on extreme temperature variations according to Portugal's grid operator REN, as reported by the Guardian. However, some energy experts also argue that a heavy reliance on solar and wind farms in Spain could be a contributing factor to why the crisis was so impactful. It's certainly true that Spain has employed an increase in renewable energy sources in the last few years. The BBC reported in June last year that the country's total wind generation capacity – its prime renewable source – had doubled since 2008. At the same time, Spain's solar energy capacity also increased eight times. This made Spain the EU member state with the second-largest renewable energy resources, only beaten by Germany, according to data from energy provider, Red Electrica. On Monday, April 28, the day of the outage, the proportion of renewables was even higher than what was recorded in 2024. Major power cut reported across Spain and Portugal The Telegraph reports that midday, just before the blackouts, 53 per cent of Spain's electricity was coming from solar, with another 11 per cent from wind, according to Red Eléctrica's data. By comparison, gas was providing only about 6 per cent. In the event of such blackouts, where a weather event causes a disruption, traditional energy systems have means of staying online, even during surges or losses of power. However, renewable sources like solar and wind don't have the same mechanisms in place, leading to long-lasting outages like those we saw in the Iberian countries. Traditional grids use inertia – created by spinning parts, like gas or hydro-powered turbines – to help maintain a stable frequency. 'In a low-inertia environment, the frequency can change much faster,' said Kathryn Porter, an independent energy analyst, to the Telegraph. 'If you have had a significant grid fault in one area, or a cyber attack, or whatever it may be, the grid operators therefore have less time to react. That can lead to cascading failures if you cannot get it under control quickly.' The events in Spain and Portugal highlight how an over-reliance on renewable sources could pose similar risks in other locations, at least until an emergency means of maintaining power is found for those energy sources.
Scottish Sun
29-04-2025
- Scottish Sun
Net zero, cyber attack or freak weather? Urgent probe after Spain & Portugal left in chaos by Europe's biggest blackout
SPAIN and Portugal plunged into chaos after Europe's biggest-ever blackout cut power to tens of millions - and now experts are warning that net zero may be partly to blame. A huge reliance on solar and wind energy left both nations dangerously exposed, analysts said, as airports shut, trains stopped and whole cities fell into darkness. 7 A worker assists a customer with a torch at a supermarket during a power outage which hit large parts of Spain 7 Metro closing the gates in Barcelona Credit: Getty 7 Travellers stranded at Lisbon airport during the electricity shutdown Credit: Getty 7 People sit outside Joaquin Sorolla train station in Valencia after services were cancelled Credit: Reuters The mass outage triggered states of emergency, fuelled panic buying, and left thousands of Brits stranded as airports and transport links across the Iberian peninsula ground to a halt. The exact cause of Monday's massive blackout, which began around 10.33am UK time, remains unclear. But energy specialists say the green shift to solar and wind made the grid in Spain and Portugal far less stable - leaving it unable to cope when disaster struck. At the time of the blackout, Spain was running on over 64% solar and wind, while gas made up just 6% of the power mix, The Telegraph reports. Unlike fossil fuels, renewables do not generate "inertia" - the stabilising energy needed to absorb shocks in the grid. Britain's National Energy Systems Operator described inertia as being like "the shock absorbers in your car's suspension, which dampen the effect of a sudden bump in the road and keep your car stable and moving forward." Kathryn Porter, an independent energy analyst, explained: "In a low-inertia environment the frequency can change much faster. "If you have had a significant grid fault in one area, or a cyber attack, or whatever it may be, the grid operators therefore have less time to react. "That can lead to cascading failures if you cannot get it under control quickly." Spain and Portugal power outage – Sweeping blackouts shut down internet & grind transport to a halt Former UK grid boss Duncan Burt added: 'If you have got a very high solar day then your grid is less stable, unless you've taken actions to mitigate that.' Spain has made huge strides towards net zero - moving from fossil fuels dominating 80% of power generation two decades ago to renewables now making up more than half. But experts warn that while solar and wind are clean, they don't provide the same grid "shock absorbers" as traditional power plants. Solar and wind lack the "inertia" provided by big spinning turbines, meaning they can't react fast enough when things go wrong. Richard Tice, Reform UK's deputy leader, said: "This should be seen as a wake-up call to the eco-zealots… "Wind and solar outputs by contrast, vary hugely over long and short periods so they add risk to the system." The European Court of Auditors had already warned earlier this month that the boom in renewables made balancing electricity systems across Europe much harder. Under Ed Milliband's plans, Britain is racing to decarbonise its energy system by 2030 - a goal critics say now looks even riskier. Cyber attack or extreme weather? While the European Union's cyber security wing ruled out a hack for now - blaming a technical or cable fault - some aren't so sure. Juanma Moreno, president of Andalusia's regional government, said said a cyber attack is the most likely cause of the disruption and claimed that everything pointed towards a deliberate plot. He added that hospitals would only be able to rely on their generators for 24 hours. There were also fears that a "Russian cyberattack" is behind the chaos, following previous similar plots against Europe. 7 This bar in Toledo, central Spain, soldiered on through the outage Credit: EPA 7 People queue for a taxi at Barajas Airport in Madrid during Monday's blackout Credit: Getty 7 Commuters leave a dark subway station in Madrid, Spain Credit: EPA There was speculation that Putin's meddling was involved in the Heathrow fire last month, which depleted the whole airport of power for a day. Meanwhile, Portugal's grid operator REN suggested a "rare atmospheric phenomenon" caused "anomalous oscillations" due to extreme temperature variations - though experts noted the weather wasn't particularly extreme at 22C. Utility analyst Steve Loftus said: 'The cynic in me wonders if there are people who don't want to admit that it's a renewables issue – if it was – because a lot of people are very invested in its success.' Slow recovery By Monday night, about 61% of power had returned to some parts of Spain – including Galicia, the Basque Country, and Catalonia. But Spanish officials warned full normality could take days, with Portugal adding it could take up to a week to fully stabilise on their end. Airports in Lisbon, Madrid and Barcelona were operating on emergency systems, and rail services across Spain and Portugal remained crippled. As Britain watches on, experts are now urging a rethink before throwing everything behind renewables without safeguards. Craig Dyke at Britain's National Energy Systems Operator said: 'We are monitoring the situation closely and are liaising with our counterparts in neighbouring European countries to offer any assistance that may be required.' A UK Government spokesperson insisted: 'Our electricity network continues to operate as normal and there are no expected impacts on the UK.'
The Sun
29-04-2025
- Climate
- The Sun
Net zero, cyber attack or freak weather? Urgent probe after Spain & Portugal left in chaos by Europe's biggest blackout
SPAIN and Portugal plunged into chaos after Europe's biggest-ever blackout cut power to tens of millions - and now experts are warning that net zero may be partly to blame. A huge reliance on solar and wind energy left both nations dangerously exposed, analysts said, as airports shut, trains stopped and whole cities fell into darkness. 7 7 7 7 The mass outage triggered states of emergency, fuelled panic buying, and left thousands of Brits stranded as airports and transport links across the Iberian peninsula ground to a halt. The exact cause of Monday's massive blackout, which began around 10.33am UK time, remains unclear. But energy specialists say the green shift to solar and wind made the grid in Spain and Portugal far less stable - leaving it unable to cope when disaster struck. At the time of the blackout, Spain was running on over 64% solar and wind, while gas made up just 6% of the power mix, The Telegraph reports. Unlike fossil fuels, renewables do not generate "inertia" - the stabilising energy needed to absorb shocks in the grid. Britain's National Energy Systems Operator described inertia as being like "the shock absorbers in your car's suspension, which dampen the effect of a sudden bump in the road and keep your car stable and moving forward." Kathryn Porter, an independent energy analyst, explained: "In a low-inertia environment the frequency can change much faster. "If you have had a significant grid fault in one area, or a cyber attack, or whatever it may be, the grid operators therefore have less time to react. "That can lead to cascading failures if you cannot get it under control quickly." Spain and Portugal power outage – Sweeping blackouts shut down internet & grind transport to a halt Former UK grid boss Duncan Burt added: 'If you have got a very high solar day then your grid is less stable, unless you've taken actions to mitigate that.' Spain has made huge strides towards net zero - moving from fossil fuels dominating 80% of power generation two decades ago to renewables now making up more than half. But experts warn that while solar and wind are clean, they don't provide the same grid "shock absorbers" as traditional power plants. Solar and wind lack the "inertia" provided by big spinning turbines, meaning they can't react fast enough when things go wrong. Richard Tice, Reform UK's deputy leader, said: "This should be seen as a wake-up call to the eco-zealots… "Wind and solar outputs by contrast, vary hugely over long and short periods so they add risk to the system." The European Court of Auditors had already warned earlier this month that the boom in renewables made balancing electricity systems across Europe much harder. Under Ed Milliband's plans, Britain is racing to decarbonise its energy system by 2030 - a goal critics say now looks even riskier. Cyber attack or extreme weather? While the European Union 's cyber security wing ruled out a hack for now - blaming a technical or cable fault - some aren't so sure. Juanma Moreno, president of Andalusia's regional government, said said a cyber attack is the most likely cause of the disruption and claimed that everything pointed towards a deliberate plot. He added that hospitals would only be able to rely on their generators for 24 hours. There were also fears that a "Russian cyberattack" is behind the chaos, following previous similar plots against Europe. 7 7 7 There was speculation that Putin's meddling was involved in the Heathrow fire last month, which depleted the whole airport of power for a day. Meanwhile, Portugal 's grid operator REN suggested a "rare atmospheric phenomenon" caused "anomalous oscillations" due to extreme temperature variations - though experts noted the weather wasn't particularly extreme at 22C. Utility analyst Steve Loftus said: 'The cynic in me wonders if there are people who don't want to admit that it's a renewables issue – if it was – because a lot of people are very invested in its success.' Slow recovery By Monday night, about 61% of power had returned to some parts of Spain – including Galicia, the Basque Country, and Catalonia. But Spanish officials warned full normality could take days, with Portugal adding it could take up to a week to fully stabilise on their end. Airports in Lisbon, Madrid and Barcelona were operating on emergency systems, and rail services across Spain and Portugal remained crippled. As Britain watches on, experts are now urging a rethink before throwing everything behind renewables without safeguards. Craig Dyke at Britain's National Energy Systems Operator said: 'We are monitoring the situation closely and are liaising with our counterparts in neighbouring European countries to offer any assistance that may be required.' A UK Government spokesperson insisted: 'Our electricity network continues to operate as normal and there are no expected impacts on the UK.' The day Europe stood still by Juliana Cruz Lima, Foreign News Reporter CHAOS erupted across Spain and Portugal as the continent was rocked by its biggest-ever blackout. Traffic lights failed, mobile networks collapsed, and desperate residents queued outside shops, petrol stations and banks to grab supplies and cash. In Madrid, emergency crews carried out 286 rescues to free people trapped in lifts, while passengers in Portugal were forced to flee darkened underground tunnels. Spain's Interior Ministry declared a national emergency and deployed 30,000 police to maintain order as both governments held emergency cabinet meetings. Airports in Lisbon, Madrid and Barcelona ground to a halt, with hundreds of flights delayed or cancelled, leaving tens of thousands of British tourists stranded. Supermarkets emptied fast as panic-buyers cleared shelves of essentials like batteries, water and generators. Hospitals across the region were forced onto back-up generators, while Spain's prime minister Pedro Sanchez urged citizens to stay calm, limit travel and use phones sparingly. Despite frantic efforts to restore power, authorities warned it could take several days for full normality to return – and investigations into what caused the blackout are still ongoing. The blackout has already been dubbed the worst in European history – eclipsing the 2003 outage that hit 56 million people in Italy and Switzerland.
Sky News AU
29-04-2025
- Climate
- Sky News AU
Why Spain's net zero push may be behind the mass blackouts that sparked a state of emergency and led to transport chaos, panic-buying
Spain's Interior Ministry declared a state of emergency after a massive power outage hit Spain and Portugal on Monday, knocking out traffic lights and forcing the evacuation of subway systems in both countries, among other disruptions. About half of Spain has seen power restored, while full restoration is expected to occur sometime Tuesday. While the cause of the outages is not yet known, experts told the UK's The Daily Telegraph that both countries' increasing reliance on wind and solar had left them vulnerable to blackouts. Turbines running on gas, coal and hydropower create inertia through the spinning parts in their generators. Solar generators do not have spinning parts. "In a low-inertia environment the frequency can change much faster," Energy analyst Kathryn Porter said. "If you have had a significant grid fault in one area, or a cyber attack, or whatever it may be, the grid operators therefore have less time to react." Former British grid operator Duncan Burt said a "high solar day" risks making the grid less stable "unless you've taken actions to mitigate that". Spain's grid relies heavily on solar, which was providing roughly 53 per cent of the country's electricity as of noon on Monday. A graph on Spain's electricity network website that shows power demand across the country indicated a steep drop at around 12:15 p.m. local time, from 27,500 megawatts to near 15,000, according to the Associated Press. "Due to extreme temperature variations in the interior of Spain, there were anomalous oscillations in the very high-voltage lines, a phenomenon known as induced atmospheric vibration," REN, Portugal's grid operator, was quoted as saying. "These oscillations caused synchronization failures between the electrical systems, leading to successive disturbances across the interconnected European network." REN reportedly described the incident as a "rare atmospheric phenomenon." The Portuguese National Cybersecurity Center issued a statement saying there was no sign the outage was due to a cyberattack. Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez later said a problem in the European grid that he described as a "strong oscillation" was behind the outage, but that the cause was still being determined. Spanish power distributor Red Eléctrica said that restoring power fully to the country and neighboring Portugal could take 6-10 hours. "Red Eléctrica is working to determine the cause of this power outage and resolve the problem as soon as possible," the Prime Minister said in a post on X. "Spain has mechanisms to deal with these types of situations. Once again, I appeal to the public to cooperate with all authorities and act responsibly and civilly, as we have always done." By 10:30 p.m. local time, Red Eléctrica had reported that over 48% of the demand had been recovered and 66% of the substation parks in the network were energized. Video that aired on Spanish television showed people evacuating metro stations in Madrid, and empty stations with trains stopped in Barcelona. Spain's parliament also was left in the dark, public broadcaster RTVE reported. The ATP Tour said play at the Madrid Open tennis tournament was suspended for the day due to the power outage. In Portugal, several Lisbon subway cars were evacuated, courts stopped work and ATMs and electronic payment systems were affected. Traffic lights in Lisbon also stopped working. Portugal's Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said on X that authorities were working together to respond to the electrical outage affecting the country. "We are in constant contact with security forces, civil protection, the armed forces, hospitals, fuel supply companies, to ensure responsiveness in essential infrastructures and support for those who need it," he said in a translated post. "We are also in contact with European institutions and partners. No time to waste! Our thanks to all who are focused on these priority tasks." Spanish airports were operating on backup electrical systems and some flights were delayed, according to Aena, the company that runs 56 airports in Spain, including Madrid and Barcelona. Lisbon Airport said on its website that "A general power cut may cause operation constraints" and urged travelers to "Contact your airline before heading to the airport." Both the Portuguese and Spanish governments convened emergency cabinet meetings to address the situation, according to Reuters. Residents in both countries told Sky News that they have observed people panic buying water and other supplies inside supermarkets. Eduardo Prieto, head of operations at Red Eléctrica, told journalists it was unprecedented, calling the event "exceptional and extraordinary." "Voltage has now been restored at substations in several areas of the north, south, and west of the Iberian Peninsula," Red Eléctrica wrote on X. "This process involves the gradual energization of the transmission grid as the generating units are connected." "Power is now available in parts of Catalonia, Aragon, the Basque Country, Galicia, La Rioja, Asturias, Navarre, Castile and León, Extremadura, and Andalusia," it continued. "In addition to the areas where power has already begun to be restored, others have been added in Madrid, the Valencian Community, Murcia, and Castilla-La Mancha." "The causes are being analyzed, and all resources are being dedicated to addressing the issue," Red Eléctrica also said. The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. Originally published as Why Spain, Portugal's net zero push may be behind the mass blackouts that sparked a state of emergency, transport chaos and panic-buying
