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Energy Policy Debate on future of gas focuses on current need, despite renewables growth
5/11/2025
8 min read
Feature
Angela Needle from Cadent Gas, James Earl from Future Energy Networks and Alice Barrs from RWE took the stage for a lively Energy Institute Energy Policy Debate in October on the future role of natural gas in the UK’s energy mix. The seminar was moderated by KPMG Vice Chair Simon Virley FEI and listened to by, among others, New Energy World Senior Editor Will Dalrymple MEI, who also wrote this article.
Much of the focus of energy infrastructure upgrades in the UK over the past few years has been on new electricity transmission infrastructure, such as the ‘great grid upgrade’. But also seeing huge investment has been the gas network, which today provides 700 TWh of power, double the energy value of the electricity network, and at a 99.9958% reliability rate, according to James Earl, CEO of gas trade association Future Energy Networks.
Over the past two decades, metallic pipework prone to corrosion and leaks has been replaced with plastic pipe underneath thousands of UK roads, as part of the so-called Iron Mains Replacement Programme. It is expected to wind up in the next five years, ensuring operation long past Clean Power 2030.
The capacity of the gas network is three to four times that of electricity supply at peak times. And providing capacity at peak times is one of its principal roles now. That is because gas generation has the advantage of being dispatchable, pointed out RWE Head of Corporate Affairs Alice Barrs. That means it plays a crucial role for security of supply, filling in gaps in the energy mix during, for example, times of low sun and low wind. RWE currently operates 7 GW of gas generation, including six combined cycle gas turbines (CCGTs) such as the UK’s largest, the 2.2 GWe Pembroke power station. She noted that even the Net Zero 2050 plans make some allowance for gas; batteries are limited in duration, sources of flexibility slide, and even ambitious plans for investment in new pumped storage capacity don’t completely remove need for some gas – around 40 GW in 2050.