Flexible gas is key to the energy transition

The increasing volume of intermittent renewable energy on the grid means that gas peaking plants will provide an answer

The results of the UK’s latest capacity market auctions—where the owners of existing and planned generation assets compete for contracts where they receive payments for ensuring capacity remains available if and when needed— provided some clues as to how the UK’s energy mix will evolve. Its trend may also play out more globally.  In the T-4 auction—that is, for four years out—43.7GW of capacity won agreements, of which 78pc was from existing assets (81pc in T-3) and 12pc from interconnectors (13.2pc in T-3). So, 10pc will come from plants not yet built.  But there was also an interesting shift in the make-up of the successful existing capacity. Just 1.3GW was won by coal, all by Ratcliffe-on