No Kwasi, Wind Power Cannot Replace Gas
By Paul Homewood
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It is very alarming when the Business Secretary is being so badly briefed by his energy advisors:
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Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business Secretary, has said onshore fracking for gas is not the answer to high energy prices and the UK will instead push deeper into renewables and nuclear power to protect itself from the energy crisis.
Mr Kwarteng said in a tweet that extra supplies generated from untapped shale reserves under Britain would do little to bring prices down and in the long term “we need to move away from gas”.
He said that it would be “madness” to turn off existing domestic sources of gas, and vowed to continue support for the North Sea, but added: “The more cheap, clean power we generate at home, the less exposed we’ll be to global gas markets.”
The comments are likely to infuriate supporters of fracking who claim that embracing the controversial process would improve Britain’s strategic autonomy…..
Writing on Twitter this morning, Mr Kwarteng said the UK was not facing security of supply problems but accepted it is facing price problems, saying: “Put simply: we have lots of gas from highly diverse and secure sources – but it is very expensive.”
He added: “We back North Sea production. Good for jobs, energy security, tax revenue to fund public services, and kick-starting a hydrogen economy and carbon capture and storage.
“However, additional North Sea production won’t materially affect the wholesale price (certainly not anytime soon).
“The wholesale price of gas has quadrupled in the UK and Europe. Additional UK production won’t materially affect the wholesale market price.
“This includes fracking – UK producers won’t sell shale gas to UK consumers below the market price. They’re not charities.”
Arguing the long-term solution was to move away from gas, the Business Secretary said that the Government was “reversing 30 years of drift” to back new nuclear projects, and “accelerating renewables”.
He said: “Remember: renewables are cheaper than gas. UK renewable capacity is up 500pc since 2010 – but way more to do.
“Now more than ever we must focus on generating cheaper, cleaner power in Britain, for Britain…
Oil and gas are currently responsible for about 75pc of the UK’s energy supply. The Government wants to quadruple the amount of offshore wind capacity to 30GW by 2030 and has also introduced a new financing mechanism to try and encourage funding for new nuclear plants.
We have already covered the question of whether fracking will cut prices. Whether it will or not is irrelevant, as the UK will benefit financially either way from domestically produced gas.
But I do object to this ridiculous comment:
“Put simply: we have lots of gas from highly diverse and secure sources – but it is very expensive.”
The international price may be high, but that does not the COST of producing shale gas is. And that is all that matters.
But it becomes alarming when he says:
“Now more than ever we must focus on generating cheaper, cleaner power in Britain, for Britain”
As the Telegraph article states, oil and gas supply about 75% of the UK’s energy. What they don’t tell you is that wind and solar only contribute 4% of the total.
Gas on the other hand meets 38% of demand:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/digest-of-uk-energy-statistics-dukes-2021
And it gets worse!
Whereas averaged out over the year, gas consumption runs at 98 GW, in winter it peaks at around 250 GW:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/gas-section-4-energy-trends
How does Kwasi Kwarteng think that an extra 20 GW of offshore wind power can make even a dent in that?
And forget about nuclear, which he also mentions. It will take at least 15 years to build any additional large scale nuclear capacity, and there is little sign of Sizewell or any other project starting anytime soon. Mini nuclear may have a future, but will make little difference for many years to come.
There is no doubt at all that, just like all of his predecessors, Kwasi Kwarteng is wholly dependent on the information given to him by his advisors in his Department, the Committee on Climate Change and others, who have all long been fully paid up members of the Green Blob.
They have now so thoroughly infiltrated the government machine, that it is hard to see how we will avoid catastrophe in the not too distant future.
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NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 
Kwarteng seemed quite clever when he won ‘University Challenge’. Something seems to have gone wrong since then.
He’s suffering from ‘Apollo Syndrome’. On the basis of something quite irrelevant in the real world (University Challenge) be believes his own mirror when it tells him “You’re so intelligent”. Additionally he is surrounded by scientifically illiterate brown nosers saying “Yes Minister” all the time. Add to that an education that provides him with no scientific hinterland then his vacuous comments are not a surprise. What is a surprise is that a moron like him is in charge of anything of any relevance to the economic welfare of our country.
As a former winner of University Challenge myself, I resent the suggestion that it’s irrelevant! (Then again, I’m not in government.)
My apologies, from another grammar school man 1958 – 1965. No slurs intended for any others who had a good solid education; just for the idiot Kwasi who seems to have forgotten all he was taught
More lies from a Tory
Certainly, Chas, but I think you’ll find that the so-called ‘Opposition’ Parties are even worse.
Who said they were Tories Chas?
More lies from a politician. (FIFY) 🙂
The Evidence is exactly opposite to government policy.
Situation Normal
I have just visited a very pro-Russian blog, with loads of Russians commenting. There are many nutters there like all these sorts of sites, but what come across clearly were two things.
Firstly the ‘need’ to overcome any sanction effect. And secondly that the West has completely lost its mind. This was very evident with any mention of energy or unreliables. Disbelief was the overall impression.
Its very stark now the collision of cultures across the world. We are constantly fed the idea that ‘our way’ is the only way and its what everyone wants. That is increasingly not true, probably never has been.
Unless the West can rid itself of the ‘blob’ and all that it stands for in the widest sense, ordinary people are going to suffer greatly to fulfill the aims of the rich and powerful.
None of the above should be read as ‘Putin apologist’ , I am definitely not, but there are many shades of grey rather than black and white.
Alex Jones was right.
Its all explained if you wiki his education
“Its all explained if you wiki his education”
You mean to say he actually HAD an education?? What’s truly terrifying is the number of ministers and advisers who don’t seem to realise (or accept) that fossil fuels will always be needed for many things other than heating, lighting…
If they can big up low life such as George Floyd and Zelensky as saints, what hope is there.
We live in a Fraudocracy.
Any Government minister who comments on major policy issues via a tweet defines themself as an idiot
The man is a fool when it comes to energy. He may be smart and knows History but his grasp of energy fundamentals is staggering poor. One would hope that he would see that we either buy Gas from Russia or we Frack. Wind and Solar can not supply the bas levels we need.
Another example of a hopelessly ignorant politician, or a corrupt one.
or both
I would say it is an example of the now ubiquitous mission creep. Fracking is private sector, the govt has no business meddling with it.
As per Ronald Reagan’s ’10 worst words in the English language’ – “I’m from the Government and I’m here to help you”
That is so stupid, I could weep
It’s not just about the UK’s gas supply. There need to be as many sources of gas as possible if Europe is to get rid of its reliance on Russian gas as part of the sanctions. Fracking here can increase the Russia-free gas supply.
What is really worrying is that Kwarteng cannot (will not?) understand what he’s saying is so obviously wrong, to the extent of ‘Misleading Parliament’, a very serious charge.
Paul: Please could you clarify the second graph?
It appears to show TWh but your comment refers to GW. I suspect it is simply mislabeled?
No Mike all is correct. Paul is referring to average “power” demand measured in multiples of Watts, whereas the graph is measuring “energy” consumption measured in multiples of Watt Hours.
Thanks Ray, I understand the power/energy metrics.
I was thrown by Paul quoting 250 GW which happens to be the same as the peak shown on the graph in TWh.
250 TWh across Q1 of 2021 works out at an average demand for the quarter of about 115 GW but, as Paul says, the instantaneous peak demand on cold winter evenings is much higher.
The TWh is per quarter. Peak cold day demand can run to over 4TWh, and it peaks within that additionally. Perhaps as much as 350GW instantaneously according to some analyses.
No, the graph is TWh/quarter – so Q1 is around 250 TWh = 114 GW on average
During daylight hours, that probably doubles
So does Kwasi want to double the amount of offshore wind capacity to 30GW by 2030, or quadruple it to 56GW?
https://www.bmreports.com/bmrs/?q=foregeneration/capacityaggregated
How can the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy of United Kingdom be so badly briefed?
Just more evidence of the alarming innumeracy at the heart of government.
Maybe the ‘green’ advisers who brief him figure he’s so thick that they can confuse him with the numbers which, later on he will (alone) have to explain. It’s called being stitched up. He deserves to be.
And he’s about to pontificate and decide on Sizewell ‘C’, the inspection report for which was delivered to him last Friday (a friend was one of the inspectors).
Note that he confused nominal capacity with what would be delivered. The German Energy Minister made the same mistake recently claiming that “offshore wind energy should reach 30 GW – arithmetically the capacity of 10 nuclear plants”. Even the very best wind turbines in the very best North Sea sites would only deliver 14.4GW (on average) and there would be times (as in 2021) when the Germans would be looking for more nuclear plants running, or more gas.
If only we could compost all the total BS from our ministers and climate doom mongers. The gas generated would outdo even North Sea gas.
France and Netherlands have some interesting fracking targets, perhaps more interesting than the UK. The Toarcian posidonia shales are an oil source rock and under the Champagne district should be just about right for producing oil. The first well Shell drilled in Europe, around 1900, as a display at an industrial fair in The Hague, accidentally actually produced oil from the Posidonia shale.
Excellent post. Another reason to keep our gas flowing is the possibility that the Allam Cycle power station that is seems to be being built in Teesside works. See:
https://whitetail.energy/
It’s hard to find out what progress is being made on this.
According to the NetPower website, this is one of four plants that are being built so momentum is building. Also the 50 MW industrial pilot has been supplying power to the local grid in Texas for a while.
https://netpower.com/