Offshore staff
LONDON — Industry association Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) has responded to the Climate Change Committee’s (CCC) annual "Progress in Reducing Emissions Report" for 2023.
The authors claim that the UK needs to quadruple low-carbon power generation over the next seven years to meet the government’s emission reduction targets, with 42% of UK electricity still supplied by gas-fired power stations.
They also reproach the government for “backtracking on fossil fuel commitments” due to its support for continued UK offshore oil and gas production.
David Whitehouse, chief executive of OEUK, said that while the association’s members supported the CCC’s net-zero targets, the report’s proposals for doing this would put the UK at increased risk of a new energy crisis.
“The CCC report's findings are paradoxical. On the one hand it warns that the UK is being far too slow at building the infrastructure vital for generating low-carbon electricity," he said. "That clearly means we will need other sources of energy to tide us over while we build those new wind farms, solar farms and nuclear power stations. But the same report also supports a ban on exploring UK waters for new sources of gas and oil, so depriving the UK of that resource too. There are 283 oil and gas fields in UK waters, but many are ageing and 180 will be shut down by 2030. If we don’t replace them the UK will become up to 80% reliant on imports."
More new fields are needed to maintain production and minimise imports, he added.
“Put together, these policies mean the UK risks creating its own home-grown energy crisis—and that will hit home around 2028. That’s likely to be when the next government is seeking re-election.”
06.28.2023
