In 2021, Britain exported 31,975 GWh (gigawatt hours) of gas, newly published government data can reveal. For perspective, a single gigawatt hour is enough to power one million homes for one hour.
To put this into some context, in 2020, the UK exported half that amount: 15,830 GWh. Now you could reasonably say this must've been because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but then you look at the export figures from 2018 and 2019 ( 16,439 and 19,633 GWh respectively).
Clearly the UK's gas exports in 2021 were significantly higher than usual. Why is it happening now though? Of all the times to export more gas than in previous years, surely now, with Russia-Ukraine tensions threatening gas price increases, is the worst possible time?
