UK foreign gas dependency could result in £30 billion trade gap: Report

A trade gap of £30 billion could arise if the UK continues to import 85% of its gas, more than four times the level it was before the gas crisis that EU countries experienced after the Russia-Ukraine war erupted last year, according to research by the Energy and Climate Change Intelligence Unit (ECIU).

The sharp increase in gas imports will cause British homes to spend £5,700 on energy bills by 2035, the report reveals.

According to the report, the deployment of renewable energy needs to be accelerated in the UK, which now imports almost half of the gas it uses, while warning that without this, residences across the nation would rely significantly more on foreign gas.

The UK’s gas production in the North Sea fell by 75%, as did investment in renewable energy, thermal insulation, and electric heat pumps, resulting in a sharp increase in the country’s gas imports.

‘Those arguing against heat pumps are arguing for UK homes being more dependent on foreign gas,’ Simon Cran-McGreehin, head of analysis at ECIU, was quoted as saying in the report.

Referring to wholesale gas prices, which are ‘two to three times higher than before the crisis,’ Cran-McGreehin argued they would also increase the UK’s dependency on expensive fuel.

‘The government has some of the right targets for UK energy independence, but not the policies to deliver on them,’ he said.​​​​​​​

• Energy and Climate Change Intelligence Unit (ECIU).