The Telegraph reports on a new study that was commissioned by the British government: Britain is incapable of building the wind farms, solar farms and transmission networks essential to net zero, a government report has warned.
The report, a "Readiness study" for the UK supply chain, was commissioned by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and released without any publicity on April 17.
The first is, sadly, that the U.K. doesn't have enough ships: The UK lacks the ships needed to build offshore wind turbines and even if that were solved, would be unable to connect them to the shore because it cannot produce enough high voltage cables, according to the study.
More: For solar farms, it warned that the UK was also incapable of supplying enough switchgear and transformers, as well as cables.
The report warned: "All renewables sectors face skills-related constraints. Shortages are particularly acute for design and commissioning engineers, project managers, and installation technicians." One thing about wind and solar installations is that, unlike reliable power plants, they can't be sited near the urban areas that will consume their electricity.
You might assume that someone, somewhere, has put pencil to paper and calculated the raw materials that would be needed; where those materials would come from; how they would be shipped to manufacturing sites; how and where the necessary equipment would be manufactured, and how it would be transported; what transmission wires would be needed, and where they would come from; and many other obvious elements.
The report discussed in the linked Telegraph article criticizes the British government for poor planning and coordination, but that strikes me as foolish.
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2024/04/net-zero-oops-never-mind.php
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