The UK increased the amount of electricity produced from fossil fuels last year despite Ed Miliband’s drive for Net Zero.
The proportion of power generated by gas and other dirty fuels increased for the first time in four years, according to analysis of Government figures.
The data also showed that expanding renewables alone would not be enough to meet the Energy Secretary’s target of making the grid clean by 2030, Bloomberg reported.
It will come as an embarrassment to Mr Miliband who already faces a major backlash to his Net Zero plans and the rapidly increasing bills to pay for them.
Despite the amount of power generated by renewables hitting a record last year – rising about 7 per cent in 2023 – this was not enough to phase out the use of fossil fuels, Bloomberg found.
Although green energy sources now provide more than half of the UK’s electricity, nuclear and gas are still needed whenever the weather stops them working.
The analysis found that while the drop in nuclear power was mostly down to planned outages, capacity is set to shrink permanently due to existing plants coming to the end of their lives and not enough new ones being built.
This will make the Government’s green goals ‘extremely challenging’, according to consultancy Stonehaven.
The UK increased the amount of electricity produced from fossil fuels last year despite Ed Miliband’s drive for Net Zero
Nuclear power generation fell to 11 per cent last year – its lowest level in a decade. This meant gas use had to rise more than six per cent to fill the gap.
Experts have expressed doubts about whether the Hinkley C nuclear power station is likely to be up and running by the end of the decade.
This would mean more power would need to come from renewables to meet the UK’s power needs.
But Bloomberg’s analysis of the Government’s own National Energy System Operator (NESO) figures showed that wind and solar power would not be able to fill the gap.
NESO data showed that about 56.5 per cent of last year’s electricity was generated from green sources – including nuclear and renewables – slightly lower than 56.7 per cent a year earlier.
Bloomberg said that last year had bucked a trend as Britain’s grid was becoming roughly 10 per cent cleaner each year as the use of green energy expanded, apart from in 2021 when there was not enough wind.
Shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho called for more reliable energy such as nuclear and gas.
‘It is telling that our Government only cares about whether our energy is clean and not whether it is cheap,’ she said.
Shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho called for more reliable energy like nuclear and gas
‘I wish the obsession was on how we reduce the cost of energy instead – but with Ed Miliband’s ideological approach to energy policy, British families are going to continue to see their bills rise, jobs lost overseas, and the risk of blackouts increase.
‘Ed Miliband’s plan to build more wind and solar farms than ever before will do nothing to power our economy on a cold, windless, cloudy day.
‘What this data does show is that we need reliable, 24/7 power for when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine – and that means more nuclear and more gas.’
A spokesman for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: ‘These statistics reflect decisions made by previous governments, including years of dither and delay on new nuclear.
‘This government is turning this around, already consenting record amounts of solar – enough for the equivalent of 8.5 million homes.
‘These projects take time to build, but we are making the decisions to benefit Britain for years to come.’
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Blow for Miliband: UK power turned dirtier in 2025, with electricity generated from fossil fuels rising for first time in four years