Nationalise gas power plants to boost energy security, thinktank urges UK ministers

The Connah’s Quay gas plant in north Wales, operated by German state-owned Uniper, raked in revenues of £10.3m from the grid operator during a cold snap that coincided with low wind power output. Photograph: Adam Vaughan/EPA

Britain’s gas power stations should be nationalised to prevent their owners from holding the electricity market “to ransom”, a thinktank has urged.

The country’s dwindling fossil fuel power plants are ripe for nationalisation as ministers aim to reduce gas consumption to just 5% of the electricity system by 2030, according to a report by Common Wealth.