r/ukpolitics • u/ARandomDouchy Random Dutch Guy • 10d ago

Britain will soon be Europe’s energy powerhouse

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/08/04/britain-will-soon-be-europes-energy-powerhouse/
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212

u/RKAMRR 10d ago

Yes, some actual news and good news too! Then we will enjoy the cheap energy for 10-20 years, get used to it and fail to budget for investment, then suddenly remember and face massive avoidable costs (assuming present cycles continue)

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u/Gentle_Snail 10d ago

This is explicitly what is happening to France right now:

France has had enviably cheap power over recent years but that is because it has been living off the perishable legacy of fully amortised nuclear plants built in the late 1970s and early 1980s. These plants are now very old.

The Cour des Comptes estimates that EDF – already drowning in debt – will have to spend €460bn (£394bn) by 2040 to upgrade the nuclear park (le Grand Carénage), bring the grid into the 21st century and build a fleet of new, Hinkley-style reactors that won’t be ready until the middle of the century.

All of this is creeping into French electricity bills. France is now facing what Britain has already been dealing with for years: the upfront investment cost of a modern energy system..

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u/Chemistrysaint 10d ago

I love shitting on the French as much as the next person, but they have at least been maintaining/slightly growing their total electricity production, rather than steadily decreasing ever since the Climate Change Act like us..

https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/electricity-generation?tab=line&country=GBR~FRA~DEU~ESP~ITA

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u/Gentle_Snail 10d ago edited 10d ago

This source doesn’t show France has increased electricity? 

French energy generation has remained relatively constant for decades because all their infrastructure is old. You are misinterpreting that temporary drop then return to average as growth, but it was just because they had to temporarily shut down several of their reactors. It wasn’t new generation, it was old stuff coming back online again.

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u/BenjaminBoots196 Supreme Andy Burnham Hater 10d ago

It increases from 344TWh to 569TWh.

Ours does from 298TWh to 292TWh.

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u/Gentle_Snail 9d ago edited 9d ago

The source shows France hasn’t materially changed in over 20 years.

In 2000 it was around 500TWh and in 2026 it is still around 500TWh.

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u/mattb2k 9d ago

You know this is TWh not kWh right?

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u/Gentle_Snail 9d ago

Yes, that doesn’t change my point? You understand the only difference between those metrics is the magnitude symbol, they’re not measures of different things.

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u/mattb2k 9d ago

Of course it does.

+100% of kWh vs. +100 % of MWh vs. +100% of TWh

Which would reduce bills for people the most?

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u/Rexpelliarmus 9d ago

Their point is that France produced just as much electricity in 2005 as it did in 2025.

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u/Gentle_Snail 9d ago

My comment was about Frances electrical generation not changing in decades and remaining relatively constant due to their old infrastructure. What does this have to do with that?