Speaking at the launch of the ‘Future Electricity Series’ inquiry by think-tank Carbon Connect, Hendry said the “crunch” in generation capacity, which could lead to temporary drops in voltage in the power system, will soon be upon us.
Hendry added that “a failure to deliver the investment that is necessary will have catastrophic consequences for our economy.”
This was supported by Dr Keith MacLean, director of policy and research at SSE, who told the inquiry the UK should “not to take the eye off the ball in term of the shorter term challenges”.
MacLean added that potential capacity issues were only two to three years away and “much quicker progress” is needed with the capacity mechanism “to keep existing plant open because if it closes now, the effect is now”.
Also speaking at the conference, Ravi Gurumurthy, director of strategy at the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc), dismissed concerns that building new gas plant is incompatible with the UK’s 2050 emissions targets.
Gurumurthy said we should not be too worried about a “lock in on gas” because it will operate on the margins providing flexibility, and the real issue in meeting our 2050 emissions target is how much low carbon capacity is built over the next two decades.
This story has been amended.