Tag: GB Grid

Net Zero Watch warns of growing grid instability

With more than 50 million EU electricity consumers suffering blackouts yesterday, campaign group Net Zero Watch has reiterated its warning that the UK power grid is also becoming increasingly unstable.

From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

By Paul Homewood

London: 29 April 2025
For immediate release
Net Zero Watch warns of growing grid instability

With more than 50 million EU electricity consumers suffering blackouts yesterday, campaign group Net Zero Watch has reiterated its warning that the UK power grid is also becoming increasingly unstable.

Grid analysts have suggested a high likelihood that the extent of yesterday’s blackout in Iberia was a result of the Spanish grid operating almost entirely on renewables at the time. The stability of power grids depends on so-called ‘inertia’, a resistance to rapid change that is an inherent feature of large spinning turbines, such as gas-fired power stations, but not of wind and solar farms. Too much renewables capacity on a grid can therefore mean inadequate inertia. As a result, in grids dominated by wind and solar, faults can propagate almost instantaneously across grids, leading to blackouts.

In a recent Net Zero Watch paper, entitled Blackout Risk in the GB Grid, energy system analyst Kathyn Porter pointed out that our own electricity system is also becoming increasingly unstable. Large fluctuations in grid frequency – the first sign of problems – are becoming much more common.

In the past four years, the upper operational [frequency] limit was breached around 500 times in each winter season…the number of such breaches has also been growing steadily, which is consistent with falling grid inertia…and a perception that the grid is becoming less reliable.

In addition, Ms Porter points out that the GB grid experienced a ‘near miss’ at the start of the year.

Net Zero Watch director Andrew Montford said:

For 20 years, every aspect of the grid has been subordinated to the concerns of the eco-warriors. It’s no surprise that our electricity system is now both unaffordable and dangerously unstable. We can no longer afford to have energy policy determined by fantastists.

Notes for editors

Kathryn Porter’s paper can be downloaded from the Net Zero Watch website.

Miliband plan is leading us to disaster

A leading energy system expert has warned that Ed Miliband’s Clean Power 2030 plan is leading the country to disaster.

From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

By Paul Homewood

A leading energy system expert has warned that Ed Miliband’s Clean Power 2030 plan is leading the country to disaster.

The GB electricity grid came close to brownouts last month due to a lack of generation capacity, showing that the system is already under immense stress. But energy consultant Kathryn Porter says that this is just one aspect of the problem. In a new analysis for Net Zero Watch, she warns that so-called ‘frequency excursions’ are rising at an alarming rate, suggesting the grid is becoming dangerously unstable.

And Ms Porter says that Ed Miliband’s Clean Power 2030 plan is going to increase the risks even further:

The plan doesn’t rise much above the level of a fairy tale – it’s clear that the technical feasibility of what is proposed has barely been considered. And to the extent that it becomes reality, it will make energy security even more of a problem.

Net Zero Watch director Andrew Montford said:

In the best-case scenario, Clean Power 2030 will lead to prices going through the ceiling. In the worst case, the lights will go out.

Richard Tice, the deputy leader of Reform UK, said:

We can’t go on having policy dictated by green fantasists. If we are to have economic growth, we must get back to cheap, reliable, plentiful energy. That means scrapping Net Zero”

Nick Timothy, a shadow energy minister, said:

Ed Miliband’s green delusions are going to be disastrous. He and his officials need to get serious about the cost and security of our energy system.”

The report, entitled Blackout Risk in the GB Grid can be downloaded by clicking the cover image below.