{"id":389221,"date":"2025-07-17T08:31:40","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T06:31:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=389221"},"modified":"2025-07-17T08:31:42","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T06:31:42","slug":"ed-miliband-to-unleash-new-gas-plants-to-back-up-patchy-wind-and-solar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=389221","title":{"rendered":"Ed Miliband to unleash new gas plants to back up patchy wind and\u00a0solar"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neso told to keep spare generating capacity on standby amid blackout fears<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ed Miliband has opened the way for a fleet of new gas-fired power stations to back up Britain\u2019s wind and solar farms. The Telegraph<\/a> has the story.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He has told the National Energy System Operator (Neso) \u2013 the UK\u2019s grid operator \u2013 that by the end of the decade it must keep 40 gigawatts (GW) of spare generating capacity on standby for days when wind and solar cannot keep the nation\u2019s lights on<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The request is part of a system known as the capacity market, where companies are paid to keep generating capacity on standby for days when renewables output plummets or demand surges<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The capacity market already costs British consumers about \u00a31.3bn a year \u2013 but this will surge to \u00a34bn by 2030 as reliance on renewables increases, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Miliband\u2019s letter to Neso has told it to ensure it has 40GW-worth of back-up generating capacity on the system, roughly equating to the output of 35-40 large gas-fired power stations. About two thirds is expected to come from gas and the rest from batteries, interconnectors and other sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The riches available to power companies via the capacity market has caused a mini-boom in construction of gas fired power plants. Neso\u2019s list of projects seeking grid connections has more than 100 new gas-fired power stations planned around the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most are smaller than the large power plants built in the past but designed to be more flexible, meaning they can ramp their output up and down according to demand and the price of power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They make their profits partly from being paid to be on standby and partly from operating only when power prices surge to unusually high levels \u2013 as often happens when low winds reduce windfarm output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read the full story here<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neso told to keep spare generating capacity on standby amid blackout fears<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":389227,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691831484,691818155,691830946,691836469,691819121],"class_list":{"0":"post-389221","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-energy-secretary-ed-miliband","9":"tag-gas","10":"tag-national-energy-system-operator-neso","11":"tag-office-for-budget-responsibility-obr","12":"tag-wind-and-solar-power","14":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/ChatGPT-Image-2.-Mai-2025-12_11_51-2.png?fit=1024%2C1536&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1DfL","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":420776,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=420776","url_meta":{"origin":389221,"position":0},"title":"Britain\u2019s Surging Reliance on Gas Deals Fresh Blow to Miliband Net Zero Hopes","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"10\/01\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Britain\u2019s reliance on fossil fuels has increased for the first time in four years, dealing a\u00a0major blow to Ed Miliband\u2019s Net Zero hopes of decarbonising the grid by 2030.","rel":"","context":"In \"energy crisis\"","block_context":{"text":"energy crisis","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=energy-crisis"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AQPW0P0t1FGgfB_ZnnZKklxDZOQLEHCHBE2vjjFWO0N32LR7RFz6NDQsi71SD0G5LhafSb-c4p3ABzfp41_kcX6t2Qzyu1YcHBktdec9Fv9IXIf0hChLrwCD5lDJxZnLgiPcPgyEbGQO3hS2aw8GAgl_MILWNA-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AQPW0P0t1FGgfB_ZnnZKklxDZOQLEHCHBE2vjjFWO0N32LR7RFz6NDQsi71SD0G5LhafSb-c4p3ABzfp41_kcX6t2Qzyu1YcHBktdec9Fv9IXIf0hChLrwCD5lDJxZnLgiPcPgyEbGQO3hS2aw8GAgl_MILWNA-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AQPW0P0t1FGgfB_ZnnZKklxDZOQLEHCHBE2vjjFWO0N32LR7RFz6NDQsi71SD0G5LhafSb-c4p3ABzfp41_kcX6t2Qzyu1YcHBktdec9Fv9IXIf0hChLrwCD5lDJxZnLgiPcPgyEbGQO3hS2aw8GAgl_MILWNA-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AQPW0P0t1FGgfB_ZnnZKklxDZOQLEHCHBE2vjjFWO0N32LR7RFz6NDQsi71SD0G5LhafSb-c4p3ABzfp41_kcX6t2Qzyu1YcHBktdec9Fv9IXIf0hChLrwCD5lDJxZnLgiPcPgyEbGQO3hS2aw8GAgl_MILWNA-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AQPW0P0t1FGgfB_ZnnZKklxDZOQLEHCHBE2vjjFWO0N32LR7RFz6NDQsi71SD0G5LhafSb-c4p3ABzfp41_kcX6t2Qzyu1YcHBktdec9Fv9IXIf0hChLrwCD5lDJxZnLgiPcPgyEbGQO3hS2aw8GAgl_MILWNA-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":350454,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=350454","url_meta":{"origin":389221,"position":1},"title":"Ed Miliband\u2019s Plan for Zero Carbon Electricity by 2030 is a Damning Indictment of the Whole Net Zero Agenda","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"07\/11\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Labour\u2019s manifesto promised we would have a zero carbon electricity system by 2030. 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