Ditching green energy targets would save every household in Britain around £214 a year , a report reveals today . The Centre for Policy Studies paper concludes that the rush for renewable energy has been the ‘ most expensive policy disaster in modern British history ’ . Shifting to wind and solar power have hugely increased costs to consumers , while creating an energy supply that is ‘ intermittent ’ . As a result , huge additional investment has been required in backup capacity to cover for when the wind isn ’ t blowing and the sun isn ’ t shining . Shifting to wind and solar power have hugely increased costs to consumers , while creating an energy supply that is ‘ intermittent ’ ( file picture ) And billions more have been spent to connect remote wind farms to the national grid . Author Rupert Darwall concludes that , astonishingly , no British government has conducted a rigorous analysis of the costs and benefits of the renewables target which was first negotiated by Tony Blair at the European Council in 2007 . The Government is committed to providing 15 per cent of its energy from renewable power by 2020 . Mr Darwall , the author of The Age of Global Warming , concludes that the annual costs of the renewables target is a staggering £9billion . Switching back to a free market in power would save households around £214 a year , assuming that gas replaces renewables , he says . The report says : ‘ Energy policy represents the biggest expansion of state power since the nationalisations of the 1940s and 1950s . It is on course to be the most expensive domestic policy disaster in modern British history . ‘ By committing the nation to high , cost , unreliable renewable energy , its consequences will be felt for decades. ’ ‘ In addition to their higher plant-level costs , renewables require massive amounts of extra generating capacity to provide cover for intermittent generation when the wind doesn ’ t blow and the sun doesn ’ t shine. ’ The report concludes that the costs of ‘ intermittent renewables ’ have been ‘ massively understated ’ . As a result , ‘ massively subsidiesed wind and solar capacity floods the market with near random amounts of zero marginal cost electricity. ’ ‘ To keep the lights on , everything ends up requiring subsidies , turning what was once a profitable sector into the energy equivalent of the Common Agricultural Policy. ’ The cost of the national grid has nearly trebled as a result of connecting to remote wind farms , he says . More solar and wind means Britain is having to more than double its overall capacity , because additional sources are needed when wind isn ’ t working . Without renewable energy , the UK would need 22GW of new capacity to replace old coal and nuclear stations , but as a result of renewable energy , an additional 50GW is required , the report says . the annual costs of the renewables target is a staggering £9billion , according to the report . Abandoning renewables and going back to a market system would save around £6billion a year , or around £214 for every household , he says . But Professor Catherine Mitchell , Professor of Energy Policy at the University of Exeter said the report ‘ downplays climate change as a problem ’ . She said : ‘ What is needed is an electricity market that is constructed to best integrate renewable energy and energy efficiency for the benefit of customers , the environment and security. ’ Last month , Energy Secretary Ed Davey announced £4billion in new energy deals for wind and solar schemes . It means a guarantee for some 27 new renewable energy projects that they can sell their power at a fixed price until 2040 . The subsidised schemes include 15 onshore wind farms , five solar arrays , two offshore wind programmes and five waste conversion plants . It will be paid for by householders through their electricity bills with a subsidy added to the basic cost of electricity . A spokesman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change said : ‘ We are dealing with a legacy of underinvestment to safeguard people ’ s electricity supplies now and in the years ahead . ‘ The Government ’ s Electricity Market Reforms are designed to attract up to £100 billion of capital investment that we will need in the sector over the next decade . By creating the world ’ s first low carbon electricity market , we are going green at the lowest cost , and attracting tens of billions of pounds of infrastructure investment , creating huge numbers of green jobs . ’
Shifting to wind and solar power has increased costs to consumers . Ditching green energy targets would save households £214 a year . Report into renewable energy carried out by the Department of Energy and Climate Change . Found the rush to go green has been the 'most expensive policy disaster ' Say no British Government has carried out analysis of costs vs benefits . Annual cost of renewable target is said to be a staggering £9 billion .