Abstract
Based on interviews with 24 leading energy experts, this chapter focuses on the discursive links between energy security and law and policies promoting green energy in Great Britain. First, it shows that energy security in GB is first and foremost a political issue, particularly as a result of risks associated with governments toppling in cases of energy interruption in the country. Second, it demonstrates that energy politicisation in GB was framed as having negative impacts on green energy development due to vested interests, unequal lobbying power and association of green energy with left-wing politics. Third, the analysis shows the potential shift in the debate surrounding green energy intermittency due to large-scale commercial energy storage; and the emergence of ‘prosumers’, a new actor which challenges the current energy system.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
5 out of 6 participants from the government sector (83.3%) framed energy security in the sense of availability and reliability or capacity and resilience/Keeping the lights on.
- 2.
Participants’ references to capacity and resilience/ keeping the lights on can also be interpreted as availability and reliability of energy supply.
- 3.
Participant J also made this distinction between short-term and long-term energy security.
- 4.
The interviews were carried out from June 2016 to November 2016. In May 2015, the UK held a general election to elect members to the House of Commons. The Conservative Party won and took over from the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government (2010–2015). In terms of energy policy, the new Conservative Party pushed forward the exploitation of domestic sources of oil and gas, including from fracking, the construction of Hinkley Point nuclear power station and reduced the amount of financial support towards some renewable technologies, particularly onshore wind and solar. These approaches to energy policy were subject to media attention during the time of the interviews.
- 5.
Britain’s electricity market is currently interconnected with France, Netherlands, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. There were discussions to build a power interconnector from Iceland to Britain (IceLink), but this has been delayed due to Brexit.
- 6.
Energy battery and solar technology, for instance, were installed at 100 homes in Cornwall, UK as a trial.
- 7.
In March 2018, around £250 of a typical household’s dual fuel energy bill went towards running and maintaining the network—around a fifth of an overall bill of £1100.
References
Aguirre M, Ibikunle G (2014) Determinants of renewable energy growth: a global sample analysis. Energy Policy 69:374–384
Archer J (2018) Centrica, uber launch electric vehicle trial to monitor impact on UK energy grid. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2018/11/30/centrica-uber-launch-electric-vehicle-trial-monitor-impact-uk/. Accessed 28 Jan 2020
Armstrong RC et al (2016) The frontiers of energy. Nat Energy 1:1–8
Bairstow J (2019) Boris Johnson: Conservative Party will increase UK’s offshore wind goal to 40 GW. https://www.energylivenews.com/2019/11/14/boris-johnson-conservative-party-will-increase-uks-offshore-wind-goal-to-40gw/. Accessed 30 Jan 2020
Bairstow J (2020) Rolls-Royce plans mini-nuclear reactors for UK by 2029. https://www.energylivenews.com/2020/01/27/rolls-royce-plans-mini-nuclear-reactors-for-uk-by-2029/. Accessed 2 Feb 2020
Barbier EB (2011) Transaction costs and the transition to environmentally sustainable development. Environ Innov Societal Transitions 1:58–69
Barton J et al (2015) Distributing power, a transition to a civic energy future. Realising Transition Pathways Research Consortium
Blarke MB, Jenkins BM (2013) SuperGrid or SmartGrid: competing strategies for large-scale integration of intermittent renewables? Energy Policy 58:381–390
Braun V, Clarke V (2006) Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qual Res Psychol 3:77–101
Bridge G (2015) Energy (in)security: world-making in an age of scarcity. The Geograph J 181:328–339
Brown MA, Sovacool BK (2011) Climate change and global energy security: technology and policy options. MIT Press
Burlinson A, Giulietti M (2018) Non-traditional Business models for city-scale energy storage: evidence from UK case studies. Economia e Politica Industriale 45:215–242
Burnham-On-Sea.com (2018) EDF Rejects fears that Hinkley C will be vulnerable to rising sea levels’, Burnham-on-sea.com. http://www.burnham-on-sea.com/news/2018/hinkley-c-rising-sea-levels-01-08-18.php. Accessed 28 Jan 2020
Burr V (1995) An introduction to social constructionism. Routledge, London
Centrica (2019) Centrica’s local energy market trial completes battery installation in 100 Cornish homes. https://www.centrica.com/news/battery-powered-britain-centricas-local-energy-market-trial-completes-battery-installation-100. Accessed 28 Jan 2020
Chang Y, Lee JL (2008) Electricity market deregulation and energy security: a study of the UK and Singapore electricity markets. Int J Global Energy Issues 29:109–132
Chaudry M et al (2009) Building a resilient UK energy system. http://www.ukerc.ac.uk/publications/building-a-resilient-uk-energy-system-working-paper.html. Accessed 2 Feb 2020
Chmutina K, Goodier CI (2014) Alternative future energy pathways: assessment of the potential of innovative decentralized energy systems in the UK. Energy Policy 66:62–72
Clark G (2018) After the trilemma—4 principles for the power sector. https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/after-the-trilemma-4-principles-for-the-power-sector. Accessed 28 Jan 2020
Clover I (2016) UK could be home to 24 million clean energy prosumers by 2050, Says Report. https://www.pv-magazine.com/2016/09/27/uk-could-be-home-to-24-million-clean-energy-prosumers-by-2050-says-report_100026268/. Accessed 28 Jan 2020
Cockburn H (2018) More than 6,000 fracking wells needed in UK to halve gas imports, study says. https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/fracking-uk-gas-imports-energy-environment-renewable-a8320661.html. Accessed 28 Jan 2020
Collier H (2014) Fire hits Ferrybridge power station. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jul/31/fire-ferrybridge-power-station-west-yorkshire. Accessed 10 Feb 2020
Colthorpe A (2018) Duracell to launch ai-enabled home battery system next month for UK market. https://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/news/duracell_to_launch_ai_enabled_home_battery_system_next_month_for_uk_market. Accessed 28 Jan 2020
Connor PM et al (2018) Sources of risk and uncertainty in UK smart grid deployment: an expert stakeholder analysis. Energy 161:1–9
Cox E (2016) Opening the black box of energy security: a study of conceptions of electricity security in the United Kingdom. Energy Re Soc Sci 21:1–11
Crispim J et al (2014) Smart grids in the EU with smart regulation: experiences from the UK, Italy and Portugal. Utilities Policy 31:85–93
Crossley P (2013) Defining the greatest legal and policy obstacle to energy storage. Renew Energy Law Policy Rev 4:268–281
Daly J, Kellehear A, Gliksman M (1997) The public health researcher: a methodological approach. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Darlington Y, Scott D (2002) Qualitative research in practice: stories from the field. Allen & Unwin
Davey E (2014) Statement by Edward Davey, Secretary of State for energy, following his meeting with G7 Ministers in Rome. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/g7-energy-ministers-meeting-in-rome. Accessed 20 Jan 2020
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) (2019) UK energy in brief 2019. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/857027/UK_Energy_in_Brief_2019.pdf. Accessed 29 Jan 2020
Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) (2012) Energy security strategy. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/65643/7101-energy-security-strategy.pdf. Accessed 10 Feb 2020
Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) (2015) Delivering UK energy investment: networks. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/394509/DECC_Energy_Investment_Report_WEB.pdf. Accessed 28 Jan 2020
Demski C, Poortinga W, Pidgeon N (2014) Exploring public perceptions of energy security risks in the UK. Energy Policy 66:369–378
Denscombe M (2003) The good research guide: for small-scale social research projects. Open University Press 2003
Devine-Wright P et al (2017) A conceptual framework for understanding the social acceptance of energy infrastructure: insights from energy storage. Energy Policy 107:27–31
Diesendorf M, Elliston B (2018) The feasibility of 100% renewable electricity systems: a response to critics. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 93:318–330
Ellsworth-Krebs K, Reid L (2016) Conceptualising energy prosumption: exploring energy production, consumption and microgeneration in Scotland, UK. Environ Plann 48:1988–2005
European Commission (2018) Interconnection between Iceland and United Kingdom. http://ec.europa.eu/energy/maps/pci_fiches/pci_1_13_en_2017.pdf. Accessed 28 Jan 2020
Evans R et al (2015) Shell and BP alone eclipse renewable energy sector on access to ministers. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/apr/28/fossil-fuel-lobby-given-far-more-access-to-uk-ministers-than-renewables-analysis. Accessed 28 Jan 2020
Fay M, Hallegatte S, Vogt-Schilb A (2015) Decarbonizing development: three steps to a zero-carbon future. World Bank Publications
Finney KN, Sharifi VN, Swithenbank J (2012) The negative impacts of the global economic downturn on funding decentralised energy in the UK. Energy Policy 51:290–300. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2012.08.010
García-Gusano D, Iribarrena D, Garraín D (2017) Prospective analysis of energy security: a practical life-cycle approach focused on renewable power generation and oriented towards policy-makers. Appl Energy 190:891–901
Geels FW et al (2016) The enactment of socio-technical transition pathways: a reformulated typology and a comparative multi-level analysis of the German and UK low-carbon electricity transitions (1990–2014). Res Policy 45:896–913
Ghanem DA, Mander S, Gough C (2016) “I think we need to get a better generator”: household resilience to disruption to power supply during storm events. Energy Policy 92:171–180
Goldthau A (2012) From the state to the market and back: policy implications of changing energy paradigms. Glob Policy 3:198–210
Good Energy (2016) Community energy. https://www.goodenergy.co.uk/media/3538/good-energy_community-energy-report_oct-16.pdf. Accessed 28 Jan 2020
Gosden E (2016) Winter power crunch fears as UK-France cables severed during storm. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/11/29/winter-power-crunch-fears-uk-france-cables-severed-storm/. Accessed 10 Feb 2020
Gracie C (2016) Is China the hitch for the Hinkley point Deal? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-36922898. Accessed 10 Feb 2020
Grubb M, Butlerb L, Twomey P (2006) Diversity and Security in UK electricity generation: the influence of low-carbon objectives. Energy Policy 34:4050–4062
Hannon MJ, Foxon TJ, Gale WF (2013) The co-evolutionary relationship between energy service companies and the UK energy system: implications for a low-carbon transition. Energy Policy 61:1031–1045
Hwang J et al (2017) Energy prosumer business model using blockchain system to ensure transparency and safety. Energy Procedia 141:194–198
HM Government (2017) The clean growth strategy: leading the way to a low carbon future. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/700496/clean-growth-strategy-correction-april-2018.pdf. Accessed 28 Jan 2020
International Energy Agency (IEA) (2016) World energy outlook. https://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/WorldEnergyOutlook2016ExecutiveSummaryEnglish.pdf. Accessed 16 Jan 2020
Jenkins N, Long C, Wu J (2015) An overview of the smart grid in Great Britain. Engineering 4:413–421
Kampman B, Blommerde J, Afman M (2016) The potential of energy citizens in the European Union. CE Delft
Kelly J, Adomaitis N (2016) Giant Iceland-UK power cable plan seen facing Brexit Delay. https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-iceland-power-idUKKCN12L1O5. Accessed 6 Oct 2016
Klare MT (2015) Climate change blowback: the threats to energy security. SAIS Rev Int Aff 35:61–72. https://doi.org/10.1353/sais.2015.0008
Kuzemko C (2014) Politicising UK energy: what ‘speaking energy security’ can do. Policy Polit 42:259–274
Lau ET et al (2018) Efficient economic and resilience-based optimization for disaster recovery management of critical infrastructures. Energies 11:3418. https://doi.org/10.3390/en11123418
Lindquist H (2017) The journey of reinventing the European electricity landscape. In: Jones LE (ed) Renewable energy integration: practical management of variability, uncertainty, and flexibility in power grids. Elsevier, Amsterdam
Lowe P (2018) Brexit and energy: time to make some hard choices. European Energy J 7:38–46
Lucas JNV, Francés GE, González ESM (2016) Energy security and renewable energy deployment in the EU: liaisons dangere uses or virtuous circle? Renew Sustain Energy Rev 62:1032–1046
Manis P (2017) Climate change and extreme wind effects on transmission towers. Proc Inst Civ Eng Structures and Build 170:81–97. https://doi.org/10.1680/jstbu.16.00013
Marques AC, Fuinhas JA, Pires Manso JR (2010) Motivations driving renewable energy in European Countries: a panel data approach. Energy Policy 38:6877–6885
Mitchell C, Watson J (2013) Conceptualising energy security. In: Mitchell C, Watson J, Whiting J (eds) New challenges in energy security: The UK in a multipolar world. Palgrave Macmillan, London
Nakatani K (2010) Restrictions on foreign investment in the energy sector for national security reasons: the case of Japan. In: McHarg A et al (eds) Property and the law in energy and natural resources. Oxford University Press, Oxford
National Grid (2017) Future energy scenario. National Grid
Noé SY, Pring G (2004) The ‘fear factor’: why we should not allow energy security rhetoric to trump sustainable development. In: Barton B et al (eds) Energy security: managing risk in a dynamic legal and regulatory environment. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Nuttall WJ, Manz DL (2008) A new energy security paradigm for the twenty-first century. Technol Forecast Soc Chang 75:1247–1259
OFGEM (2018) How the energy networks work for you. https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/network-regulation-riio-model/how-energy-networks-work-you. Accessed 28 Jan 2020
OFGEM (2020a) The GB electricity transmission network. https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/electricity/transmission-networks/gb-electricity-transmission-network. Accessed 28 Jan 2020
OFGEM (2020b) The GB electricity distribution network. https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/electricity/distribution-networks/gb-electricity-distribution-network. Accessed 28 Jan 2020
OFGEM (2020c) Electricity interconnectors. https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/electricity/transmission-networks/electricity-interconnectors. Accessed 28 Jan 2020
OFGEM (2020d) Electricity market reform (EMR). https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/electricity/wholesale-market/market-efficiency-review-and-reform/electricity-market-reform-emr. Accessed 28 Jan 2020
Parag Y, Sovacool BK (2016) Electricity market design for the prosumer era. Nat Energy 1:1. https://doi.org/10.1038/NENERGY.2016.32
Paskal C (2009) The vulnerability of energy infrastructure to environmental change. Chatham House and Global EESE
Petit V (2017) The energy transition: an overview of the true challenge of the 21st century. Springer, Berlin
Philipson A (2014) Didcot power station fire: as it happened. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/energy/11173594/Didcot-Power-Station-fire-as-it-happened.html. Accessed 10 Feb 2020
Price A (2014) The exploitation of renewable sources of energy for power generation. In: Garche J, Moseley PT (eds) Electrochemical energy storage for renewable sources and grid balancing. Elsevier, Amsterdam
Rathnayaka AD et al (2015) Framework to manage multiple goals in community-based energy sharing network in smart grid. Int J Electr Power Energy Syst 73:615–624
Redgwell C (2004) International energy security. In: Barton B et al (eds) Energy security: managing risk in a dynamic legal and regulatory environment. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Reuters (2018) Japan’s Kyushu elec restricts renewable energy supplies for first time. https://www.reuters.com/article/japan-nuclear-renewables-restrictions/japans-kyushu-elec-restricts-renewable-energy-supplies-for-first-time-idUSL4N1WS390. Accessed 28 Jan 2020
Römer B et al (2012) The role of smart metering and decentralized electricity storage for smart grids: the importance of positive externalities. Energy Policy 50:486–495
Rutledge I, Wright P (2010) The content and delivery of future UK energy policy. In: Rutledge I, Wright P (eds) UK energy policy and the end of market fundamentalism. Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, Oxford
Shrestha P (2019) Government mulls investing £18 m to develop UK’s first mini nuclear reactor. https://www.energylivenews.com/2019/07/23/government-mulls-investing-18m-to-develop-uks-first-mini-nuclear-reactor/. Accessed 2 Feb 2020
Staffell I et al (2015) Domestic microgeneration: renewable and distributed energy technologies, policies and economics. Routledge, London
Starks H, Trinidad SB (2007) Choose your method: a comparison of phenomenology, discourse analysis, and grounded theory. Qual Health Res 17:1372–1380
Stein AL (2014) Reconsidering regulatory uncertainty: making a case for energy storage. Florida State Univ Law Rev 41:697–766
Sovacool BK, Mukherjee I (2011) Conceptualizing and measuring energy security: a synthesized approach. Energy 36:5343–5355
Thody A (2006) Writing and presenting research. Sage, Beverley Hills
Thomas S (2016) The Hinkley point decision: an analysis of the policy process. Energy Policy 96:421–431
Trebilcock C (1981) The industrialization of the continental powers. Longmans, Harlow
US Department of Energy (2020) Global energy storage database: projects. http://www.energystorageexchange.org. Accessed 28 Jan 2020
Vaccaro A et al (2011) An integrated framework for smart microgrids modeling, monitoring, control, communication, and verification. IEEE Proc 99:119–132
Valentine SV (2011) Emerging symbiosis: renewable energy and energy security. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 15:4572–4578
Ward A (2016) Hinkley point: is the UK getting a good deal? https://www.ft.com/content/9037d7c4-7ade-11e6-b837-eb4b4333ee43. Accessed 28 Jan 2020
Watson J et al (2018) The security of UK energy futures. UK Energy Research Centre
Winfield M, Shokrzadeh S, Jones A (2018) Energy policy regime change and advanced energy storage: a comparative analysis. Energy Policy 115:572–583
Woollacott E (2018) How your home could generate, store and sell energy. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44540726. Accessed 28 Jan 2020
World Energy Council (2016) Managing cyber risks. https://www.worldenergy.org/publications/2016/the-road-to-resilience-managing-cyber-risks/. Accessed 10 Feb 2020
Xenias D et al (2015) UK smart grid development: an expert assessment of the benefits, pitfalls and functions. Renew Energy 81:89–102
Zafar R et al (2018) Prosumer based energy management and sharing in smart grid. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 82:1675–1684
Zillman DN, Bigos MT (2004) Security of supply and control of terrorism: energy security in the United States in the early twenty-first century. In: Barton B et al (eds) Energy security: managing risk in a dynamic legal and regulatory environment. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Rutherford, A. (2020). Energy Security and Green Energy in Great Britain: The Discourse of the Lights Going Out. In: Energy Security and Green Energy. International Law and Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45555-2_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45555-2_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-45554-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-45555-2
eBook Packages: EnergyEnergy (R0)