New UK Energy Security Strategy

It’s usually part of the normal C@W service to pre-digest blockbuster energy announcements from government and serve you up a swift precis & crit.  Sadly, if the new Energy Security doc is indeed published today as heavily trailed, I’m very tied up and won’t be able to oblige in quite the usual timeframe.  

Handily, though, Kwasi Kwarteng yesterday delivered himself of a short speech on the subject which I assume hits the highlights.  So here are some key phrases he offered, in sequence, that we might wish either to qualify heavily – or dismantle completely.  Or maybe even agree!

“Expensive gas is the problem. Cheap, clean, homegrown energy is the solution” 

Well it might be if there was any

“For as long as we depend on oil and gas – wherever it is from – we are all vulnerable to Putin’s malign influence on global markets”

See the final point, though.  “For as long as …” – that’s gonna be rather a long time 

“… with gas prices at record highs, and the price of renewable energy plummeting …”

(a) - errr, yes.  (b) – errrr, … 

“[we] will set out a new Energy Security Strategy to supercharge cheap renewables and new nuclear”

At least he didn’t say ‘cheap new’ nuclear!  And we know EDF is incapable of building a new plant inside 10 years.  Remind me – what binding commitments on timescale has RR made for its so-called SMRs ..?

“It remains the case that there will continue to be an ongoing demand for oil and gas over the coming decades”

Oh yes.  He got that one right.

ND