The risks need accessing as a renewables-heavy set-up would make demand for gas more volatile and unpredictable

Monday was another of those dunkelflaute days when the wind barely blows, the sun doesn’t shine and it’s cold. At times, gas-fired power stations were generating 70% of the UK’s electricity while windfarms and solar facilities were contributing as little as 7% combined.

It was a reminder of why, even under the government’s rapid programme to decarbonise the electricity grid by 2030 by expanding renewables, the current gas-fired capacity of 35GW will be retained as backup. The fossil-fuelled plants may stand idle most of the time – they are scheduled to account for only “up to 5%” of generation over a full year in 2030, versus 34.7% in 2023 – but, when they’re needed, they will sometimes still be operating at full pelt.