People ‘will have to restrict when they boil the kettle to help Ed Miliband hit 2030 clean power targets’
PEOPLE will have to restrict when they boil the kettle to help Ed Miliband hit his 2030 clean power targets, according to a report.
They will be told they must be much more “flexible” about when they use gas and electricity.
And coastlines and the countryside will be littered with around 6,350 more windfarms if the Energy Secretary is to achieve his ambitious environmental goals.
A report into how Britain can meet Mr Miliband’s climate targets describes them as a “huge challenge” that requires a doubling of onshore windfarms, a tripling of offshore windfarms, and a tripling of onshore solar sites.
Weaning the UK off gas power stations will also require a five-fold increase in battery storage, nuclear plants staying open longer than intended and the construction of carbon capture facilities.
Experts said the scale of the infrastructure projects needed over the next six years would require swift planning and regulatory reform.
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And the report by the National Energy System Operator — now taxpayer-owned after a £630million deal last month — claims hitting the 2030 target requires a six-fold rise in “demand flexibility”.
The term refers to when households and businesses are asked to reduce power usage at peak times — such as when they can make a brew.
Octopus Energy has previously advised customers that avoiding using ovens, microwaves and kettles during its energy-saving sessions was the most effective way to ease pressure on the national grid.
The NESO underlined the mammoth challenge ahead by saying: “Failure in any single area — generation, flexibility, networks — will lead to failure to achieve clean power.”
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