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Renewables are cheaper: time to break fossil fuel’s pricing grip
Thanks to impressive progress in Britain with wind and solar generation, clean electricity now costs a fraction of the price of gas — yet the current system keeps bills artificially high to protect fossil fuels, writes TOM HARDY
THE WAY FORWARD: A general view of the Viking windfarm SSE Renewables at Voe in Shetland last February 2024

IN BRITAIN, wholesale electricity prices are currently, irrationally, determined by the most expensive form of generation in the mix — currently predominantly gas — and consequently consumers are having to pay significantly more for energy generated from renewables even though it costs far less to produce.

This is undoubtedly galling for Scotland, which was the first nation in Britain to generate almost 100 per cent of its electricity from wind, solar and hydro processes.

In light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Vladimir Putin’s weaponisation of gas supplies, this inequity has been exacerbated.

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