The United Kingdom’s green energy transition is facing a dangerous slowdown at a critical moment for the economy and the environment. The Labour Party has ambitiously planned for British energy output to be 95% clean by 2030, but many stalled renewable energy projects show that the sector may be contracting just when the government is pushing for expansion. 

The United Kingdom has adopted numerous policy instruments to scale back the domestic fossil fuel industry while propping up clean energy generation. And the pressure on the oil and gas industry seems to be working – perhaps a little too well. Just last month, oil and gas firm Harbour Energy announced that it would axe hundreds of jobs in the North Sea, and thousands more positions are at risk, with little to no contingency plan for those workers. And while the government has agreed to issue a limited number of new oil and gas licenses in the North Sea, these licenses are currently being challenged in court. What’s more, oil and gas reserves in the North Sea are dwindling. 

But while oil and gas are indeed on the decline, clean energy projects are not stepping in to take their place at nearly the desired rate. Projects that could offer jobs to laid-off fossil fuel workers are facing “repeated delays” and potentially untenable financial circumstances. “And the gap between one industry declining and the other rising is growing wider,” according to the BBC. This could spell major trouble not only for British laborers but also for the nation’s energy security.

The BBC notes that the slew of canceled and delayed clean energy projects could be driven by a number of causes, many of which have little to do with the invisible hand. “Because the UK government has set such an ambitious and high-profile target for clean, green power, it may be that [clean energy sector] developers are using the leverage of a halted project to get a more attractive set of price guarantees,” the BBC speculates. “It may also be that Harbour Energy is backing up the wider oil and gas industry in putting pressure on the UK government to give it a less hostile business environment,” the report goes on to note. “It took only a few minutes from the announcement of Harbour’s job losses to Prime Minister’s Questions, with both the Conservatives and SNP piling on the pressure.”

Clearly, creating a smooth and just clean energy transition is far from easy. Research from campaign group Oil Change International has estimated that transitioning to a renewable-powered grid without leaving oil and gas workers in the dust will cost the United Kingdom about  £1.9 billion per year. “Of this, about £1.1bn would be needed to help develop the wind industry and create new green jobs; about £440m would be needed to invest in ports to make them capable of constructing and maintaining offshore wind turbines; and £355m would cover a training fund for oil and gas workers,” the Guardian reports.

Not only is the power struggle over the terms and conditions of the United Kingdom’s clean energy transition leaving many Brits in the lurch, it’s also creating a major threat to the nation’s energy security and climate goals. Without a strong renewables sector to take the place of the flagging fossil fuels industry, Great Britain will remain dangerously dependent on imported natural gas in an era of extreme political and geopolitical tensions, and all of the price volatility that comes with it. 

This is bad news for British consumers, who have been battered by high energy prices over the past few years thanks to the energy crisis brought on by Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and retaliatory tariffs placed on the Kremlin, one of the world’s key suppliers of oil and gas. Recent estimates suggest that approximately 11% of households in England are classed as fuel poor, 34% in Scotland, 14% in Wales, and 24% in Northern Ireland. This means that these households must spend a high proportion of their income to keep their home at a reasonable temperature.

By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com

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