Wind and solar spared Britain £5.9 billion in gas imports during the Hormuz crisis, analysis finds

Record wind and solar generation has spared Britain from importing gas worth £5.9 billion since the Hormuz crisis began earlier this year, according to an analysis by the climate website Carbon Brief.

The analysis, published Sept. 30 by Simon Evans and Ho Woo Nam, found wind and solar output rose 14% year-on-year, cutting gas-fired power by nearly 10%. Wind and solar supplied 41% of the country's electricity in 2026 to date, compared with 25% from gas. The avoided imports equal more than 100 extra tanker deliveries of liquefied natural gas.

The savings are growing as gas prices climb. Wholesale gas averaged 189 pence per therm so far in September, its highest level since the 2022 energy crisis, compared with 90 pence from 2023 until early 2026. Record wind and solar output of nearly 10 terawatt-hours in September alone avoided £1.3 billion in imports.

Households are feeling the gap. From Oct. 1, typical gas bills are 33% higher than in April, about £200 a year, while electricity bills have risen only 4%, according to the think tank Nesta. "The link between electricity and gas prices has already begun to break," Andrew Sissons, Nesta's director for sustainable future, said in a social media post.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham told the Labour Party conference that clean energy was easing the impact on power bills, and said he had asked Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh to speed up breaking the link between household power prices and the international gas market.

This brief is based on reporting by Simon Evans and Ho Woo Nam, published Sept. 30, 2026, in Carbon Brief. Read the original: https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-wind-and-solar-save-uk-from-gas-imports-worth-5-9bn-during-hormuz-crisis