The UK needs a future energy system that could cope with multi-week “wind droughts” that hobble its vast offshore turbine fleet, with hydrogen and even fossil gas on standby as possible power backups, said the government’s climate change adviser.
The Climate Change Committee (CCC) – which advises minsters on net zero policy and strategy – said conventional turbines burning green H2 or gas allied to carbon capture and storage could be needed to give Britain’s energy system the flexibility to cope during “occasional extended (up to multi-week) periods of low wind generation”.
