Electric boiler?

[plugwash]

All true, but, if we are "massively exposed to gas prices", and a net importer of it, why is it that gas is so much cheaper than electricity in the UK?

Fundamentally one would expect electricty generated from gas to be more expensive per kWh than gas itself, because gas power plants are only about 55%-60% efficient and because of capital and maintinance costs but that alone doesn't really explain the massive difference seen in the UK.

Still I suspect a large part of the reason for "why is the difference so large" is related to renewables, which both receive direct subsidies but also make the demand for traditional electricity generation far more volatile.

 

[JohnW2]

Fundamentally one would expect electricty generated from gas to be more expensive per kWh than gas itself, because gas power plants are only about 55%-60% efficient and because of capital and maintinance costs ..

Yes, I understand all that, but as you go on to write ...

... but that alone doesn't really explain the massive difference seen in the UK.

Still I suspect a large part of the reason for "why is the difference so large" is related to renewables, which both receive direct subsidies but also make the demand for traditional electricity generation far more volatile.

Yes, that would all make sense - at least, it would were it not for the fact that (I believe, but may be wrong) a large price difference existed long before we'd even heard of 'renewables', didn't it?