Mark W Tebbutt

When will GB electricity prices fall?

I asked ChatGPT at what percentage of gas generation GB power prices start to drop and when that happens. The answer is from 2028.

Gas still sets UK power prices most of the time even though it was only about 26.8 percent of generation in 2025. That keeps bills tied to volatile fossil markets. The shift comes when gas falls into the 10 to 15 percent backup range and when renewables and storage begin to set the marginal price instead.

Wind rises from 28 percent in 2023 to about 52 percent by 2030. Storage grows from 7 GWh in 2023 to about 100 GWh by 2030 which is about 12 percent of daily demand. Gas falls from 33 percent to about 8 percent by 2030 and then drops to about 5 percent by 2032. At that point gas no longer drives wholesale prices.

Projects like Thurrock which combines a 300 MW 600 MWh battery with 450 MW of flexible engines show the direction of travel. Clean. Reliable. Flexible.

Wind is now the UK’s cheapest new power. With storage it will undercut gas entirely. Ninety five percent clean power by 2030 is credible. It is practical. It is affordable. It is already underway.

The blue band in the chart marks the point where gas falls below the level that sets prices which is when GB electricity prices will start to decline.

#NetZero #Climate #Energy #EV #HeatPump #BESS #CleanPower #OffshoreWind #UKEnergy

It was quite sunny with a little breeze in #Chorley today, so I thought it would be a good day to line-dry my laundry. Big mistake…

My freshly washed bedsheet and two pillowcases now smell of smoke from neighbouring solid-fuel burning. That’s bedding I’ll be sleeping on, with my face and skin against it for hours every night.

What many people don’t realise is that wood and coal smoke contain a cocktail of toxic chemicals, including cancer-causing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which can settle on fabrics and other surfaces.

Some PAHs can also be absorbed through the skin. Although the cancer risk from sleeping on lightly smoke-exposed bedding is uncertain and probably very small, it’s an entirely unnecessary potential exposure.

Now I’ll have to wash my bedding all over again because I don’t want to sleep in sheets that smell of smoke or potentially contain harmful combustion compounds.

That’s more water, detergent, electricity, time and expense, all because of somebody else’s pollution.

Research has demonstrated that smoke-related PAHs can accumulate on fabrics:
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38111142/

Research reported in yesterday’s Guardian also found that wood burning is a major contributor to toxic PAH pollution in European towns and cities. In Colchester homes, concentrations of some PAHs were more than ten times higher in winter than summer.

theguardian.com/environment/20…

And while I’m concerned about what’s settled on my bedding, the much bigger issue is what’s in the air we’re all breathing. Wood smoke contains known carcinogens, and none of us gets a choice about breathing our neighbours’ pollution.

#AirPollution #WoodBurning #CleanAir #PublicHealth

Can’t counter the science so blocks. 🤷🏼‍♂️

Sodium-ion batteries are developing much as I predicted a few years ago.

Wood Mackenzie now forecasts that sodium-ion battery cells could reach cost parity with lithium iron phosphate (LFP) by the end of 2026, with complete battery systems potentially reaching parity after 2030.

For grid-scale electricity storage, energy density is far less important than cost, longevity and reliability. Sodium is also abundant and widely available.

Alongside developments in zinc, iron and vanadium flow batteries, we’re seeing increasing competition in electricity storage technologies.

This is excellent news for renewable energy. Cheaper, longer-lasting batteries will make it increasingly economical to store surplus wind and solar electricity, reducing our dependence on fossil fuels.

And we’re still relatively early in the development and mass production of these technologies. #SodiumIon #BatteryStorage #RenewableEnergy #EnergyStorage #CleanEnergy #NetZero #Climate

pv-magazine.com/2026/11/13/sod…

@LancashireCC @ChorleyCouncil @BBCLancashire @BBCNWT @dr_sakthi ⬇️