The UK imports more power than any other country in Europe and the most direct power generation of the G7.

We have earned that dubious distinction from a lack of strategic foresight and perseverance in project delivery. We might learn a thing or two from our leading suppliers, however.

Just this week, on 21 July, we imported close to the highest proportion of electricity for a single day in our history, a whopping 22.4%. According to our analysis of National Grid ESO data, we are on track on import nearly 50% more power this year compared to the previous record set in 2021.

The UK’s leading sources of imports are French nuclear and Norwegian hydro. That is no accident. Both countries pursued decarbonisation and energy security with more conviction and determination than the UK, and they both offer models for how the UK should act going forward.

In France, we know it was “no oil, no gas, no coal, no choice” and “in France, we don’t have oil, but we do have ideas!” On that basis, they built a huge nuclear fleet even though the country did not have the electricity demand at the start to justify it – but build it they did. That programme churned out 42 GW in its first 15 years, and at its very peak, produced 6 reactors per year, at about 5 years’ construction time each. A recent study confirmed that the French deployed clean power faster than anyone before or since in Western European history.

The colossal input of low carbon power allowed the electrification of other big projects like the TGV and the electrification of home heating on a national scale. Around 40% of all the energy, not just electricity, used in France is clean, because the abundant supply of electricity pushed innovation far beyond what we have achieved in the UK (we are at around 17% clean energy).

In Norway, they struck oil (and gas) just about when we did in the 1980s. We ploughed our gains into gas-fired power stations and tax cuts, and stopped building nuclear power stations. The Norwegians spurned building fleets of fossil power stations and instead deployed a fleet of hydroelectric stations that still give them nearly 100% clean power. They ploughed their gains into a colossal sovereign wealth fund worth £1.3 billion at the end of Q1 2024. There’s the link. Read it and weep. I know I have.

Tears aside, the lessons are clear and applicable to the UK today: set a strategy based not on where you are, but where you want to be. Stick to the strategy even if the upfront capital investment is substantial. Recognise the unique and irreplaceable attributes of long-lived low carbon assets, and recognise too that only good policy can capture and “price in” all the benefits. And for God’s sake, build in fleets.

That is the pathway to being the ones exporting the power and raking in the cash, rather than importing the power and forking out the dough. It is also the pathway to high-quality jobs, local investment and sustained economic development. And therefore, something we can all get behind.

Lincoln Hill is the NIA’s Director of Policy and External Affairs.

 

 

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