Starmer's Energy Security Policy

GET IN TOUCH

Starmer's Energy Security Policy

Antony Nailer • 7 June 2024

Antony Nailer

UK Independence Party Energy Spokesman

Since the start of the Election Campaign and reinforced during the first Leaders Debate, Keir Starmer reiterated the intention of the next Labour Government to create a new organisation called British Energy to provide ‘clean’ energy for all our needs by 2030.

This means he will create a Quasi Autonomous Non-Governmental Organisation (QANGO) part funded by the government and part he hopes by investors. Its function will be to fund the installation of enormous amounts of offshore wind, and onshore solar farms.

Yesterday was a rare and unusual day when the peak rating of both wind and solar was achieved providing 17GW of the 32GW of UK electricity demand.

Another 4.5GW was provided by three of the 4 remaining nuclear power stations built in the 1960’s with an intended lifespan of 40 years, now exceeding that by 24 years. The remainder of demand was a combination of gas, coal, and interconnects with Holland, France, and Ireland.

We are now in the summer months with central heating switched off and UK demand 10GW lower than during winter months. During the winter months with leaden skies the sun low above the horizon solar generation is pathetic and cannot be relied on. Wind electricity generation is also more irregular because of winds so high that turbines need to be feathered so they don’t turn too fast and self-destruct. During the winter months there are also very cold frosty days when there is wind so low that total UK renewable generation is under 2GW.

The recent franchises for building wind farms originally offered the same tariff of £43 per MWh because of the claims that the price of wind generation was coming down. There were no takers and the government had to keep increasing its price per MWh to near double the previous rate before there were takers.

Even then the biggest ever proposed wind farm was abandoned by the Dutch company that had intended to install it.

The towers for wind turbines are now shipped in from China because the cost of making the steel for them in the UK is uneconomic due to high energy prices and the moratorium on burning coal. The turbine blades are made by the German company Siemens and the installations are done by the Dutch. There are virtually no new jobs for British workers.

Hinckley Point C Nuclear power station is a huge undertaking which so far has taken over a decade of construction and is still many years from completion.

When it is complete it will add about 3.5GW of continuous generation. But will the old 3 or 4 nuclear power stations still be limping along in 6years time?

Even if it was feasible to double the existing offshore and onshore wind farms and solar farms and even double the existing number of homes with solar arrays, there might still be less than 4GW of renewable generation in the winter months when demand is in excess of 40GW.

A study I undertook for the Democrats and Veterans Party in 2018 compared the true cost of coal and gas fired electricity generation stripped of carbon taxes or the added cost of carbon capture and storage to the true cost of renewables without subsidy. Without wind and solar, the generation would be 40% cheaper.

Since then, the sabotage of one of the two North Sea gas pipelines has limited the amount of gas to western Europe and the UK to punish us for supporting Ukraine, and gas prices are still 3 times higher than they were before that war started.

The rest of the world is now abandoning renewables in favour of coal because it is cheap and in plentiful supply and the coal fired stations the quickest to build and commission. India and China are literally building hundreds of new coal fired power stations, without carbon capture and storage, with new ones in China coming on line every fortnight or less.

Keir Starmer has pledged to cut our reliance on Russian gas and oil and at the same time has stated he will revoke the new licences granted by the Tory government for drilling and extraction in the North Sea. How then will he keep the lights on when the wind doesn’t blow, and the sun doesn’t shine?

The truth is that it is impossible to provide so called clean energy morning and night 365 days a year using renewables. To get up to 10GW of nuclear fired generation will take at least another 15 to 20 years if we started right now. We will need fossil fuels for generations and may never be able to provide for our needs using only renewables. Labours energy plan is cloud cuckoo land.

Tony Nailer

UK Independence Party Energy Spokesman

< Older Post Newer Post >

Recent National News

Enough is Enough

by Cameron Bishop • 2 November 2024

Cameron Bishop Former Police Crown Servant, Solicitor & UKIP Activist

Ever wondered what makes UKIP different?

by Ben Walker • 21 October 2024

Ben Walker National Party Chairman - UK Independence Party

The Father of BREXIT Dies

by Stuart Gulleford • 11 September 2024

Jeffrey Titford 24.10.1933 – 09.09.2024 Jeffrey Titford, the former Leader of the UK Independence Party and two term MEP for the East of England, has passed away, after suffering from cancer. His family announced his death on 10 th September, aged 90. Jeffrey was one of the fathers of Brexit, coming to the fore in national and international politics at a time when leaving the EU was considered unthinkable and long before it became official Conservative Party policy. A visionary and a democrat, who did not believe that EU membership provided a viable future for Britain as an independent, self-governing nation, Jeffrey Titford was elected to the European Parliament at the 1999 European Parliamentary Elections, aged 63. He was one of three UK Independence Party MEPs elected, which sent shock waves through the political world. He became Leader of the Party in 2000 and served for three years bringing stability and respectability to its campaigns. During this period, he made seventy speeches a year, travelling all over the country. He also served as interim Leader from September to November 2010, following the resignation of Lord Pearson of Rannoch, while the election of a new Leader was held. During his time in the European Parliament, he made dozens of speeches in Plenary session severely criticising the EU and particularly the level of fraud in its finances. He also extensively lobbied the European Commission and the Government in Westminster on behalf of the British fishing and farming industries. He led several delegations of fishermen to see UK Agriculture Ministers in Westminster and also took a delegation to meet the European Commissioner for Fishing in Brussels. He wrote monthly columns for the East Anglian Daily Times, the Hertfordshire Mercury and Farmers Guide and made many appearances on regional television. He also made a guest appearance on Breakfast with Frost. Jeffrey Titford’s political career began in 1970, when he became a Councillor on the Clacton Urban District Council. He ended his association with the Conservative Party in 1992, in protest over Prime Minister John Major’s signing of the Maastricht Treaty. He joined Sir James Goldsmith’s Referendum Party and, in a sign of things to come, stood in the General Election of 1997 in Harwich when he was the Party’s most successful candidate, securing almost 10 per cent of the vote and, in the process, unseating the sitting Member of Parliament. Following the death of Sir James Goldsmith, Jeffrey was invited to join the UK Independence Party (UKIP), where he established a branch in Clacton and a regional committee, which led to his successful campaign in the European Elections in 1999. He paved the way for Nigel Farage’s subsequent success in Clacton at the 2024 General Election. He was re-elected to the European Parliament in 2004, with a greatly increased share of the vote and UKIP also returned a second MEP. He retired from European Politics in 2009 and was made an Honorary Patron of the Party in 2006 and became President for Life in 2011. Life before politics Following National Service in the RAF, Jeffrey joined the family’s funeral directing business in 1956, where he had a 35 year career, during which he served for 12 years on the National Association of Funeral Director’s (NAFD) National Executive and rose to National President in 1975-76. He was instrumental in developing an official code of practice for the funeral profession, at the request of the Office of Fair Trading. He also successfully campaigned for funeral directors to have the right to sell a package funeral and carried out the first review of the practice manual for funeral directing, which led to the creation of a formal qualification for funeral directors, recognised by the NAFD. He sold the company in February 1989 and retired from the profession. An enthusiastic Rotarian, Jeffrey served as President of the Clacton and later Frinton Rotary Clubs. He also belonged to the Clacton Operatic and Clacton Dramatic Societies, taking lead roles in both companies. However, his most successful hobby was rally driving. He was a leading light in the Clacton Motor Club in the early seventies for whom he was the regional rally champion for six consecutive years. Jeffrey Titford was a devoted family man and is survived by his wife Margaret, one son, three daughters, eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren.