UK Averts £1.7bn in Gas Imports as Wind and Solar Hit Record Since Iran War Began

Record Renewables Shield Britain from Price Shock

The United Kingdom has avoided the need for gas imports worth an estimated £1.7 billion since the start of the Iran war in late February 2026, according to a new analysis by Carbon Brief.

Record electricity generation from wind and solar—totaling a historic 21 terawatt hours (TWh) over the past two months—has slashed reliance on gas-fired power plants, sparing British consumers from a potential fossil-fuel price crisis.

“This is a powerful demonstration of how renewable energy can act as a financial shield during geopolitical turmoil,” said Dr. Emily Thornton, senior analyst at Carbon Brief. “Every terawatt hour from wind or solar is a terawatt hour we don’t have to import volatile liquefied natural gas.”

34 LNG Tankers Avoided

The surge in renewables prevented the import of roughly 41 TWh of natural gas—equivalent to about 34 tankers of liquefied natural gas (LNG). At current conflict-inflated prices, those cargoes would have cost the UK over £1.7 billion.

Gas-fired electricity generation in March and April 2026 fell to its lowest levels ever recorded for those months, dropping nearly one-third year-on-year.

“Without this rapid expansion of wind and solar, the UK would be deeply exposed to the kind of price spikes we saw after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” noted Professor James Hartley, energy economist at Imperial College London.

Background: The Iran War Context

The conflict began when the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28, 2026. The resulting instability sent global gas prices soaring—repeating the pattern of the 2022 energy crisis, but with a crucial difference.

Data from the National Energy System Operator (NESO) shows that on the island of Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales), wind and solar have generated more than twice as much electricity as fossil fuels since the war began.

• Wind and solar output: 21 TWh (record for any two-month period)
• Fossil fuel output: less than 10 TWh over the same period

A decade ago, the picture was reversed: fossil fuels produced four times more electricity than wind and solar. The rapid transformation reflects aggressive renewable deployment and falling battery storage costs.

What This Means for Britain

The milestone is not a one-off. The UK has now recorded 15 consecutive months where wind and solar generated more electricity than fossil fuels—including an entire winter season for the first time in 2025-26.

This shift has profound implications for energy prices. In March and April 2026, gas set the wholesale electricity price roughly 25% less often than during the same months in 2022, when post-Ukraine invasion prices peaked.

“The British electricity system is fundamentally rewiring itself,” said Dr. Rashida Patel, power market analyst at Aurora Energy Research. “Gas is losing its role as the price setter, which means lower and more stable bills for households and businesses.”

On April 22, 2026, a remarkable 98.8% of electricity feeding into Great Britain’s main transmission grid came from zero-carbon sources for a half-hour period—a new record.

While the UK still burns gas for some power and heating, the analysis underscores that speeding up renewables is the most effective defense against fossil-fuel price shocks. With the Iran war showing no signs of de-escalation, every additional wind farm and solar panel becomes a bulwark against billions in wasted expenditure.