The cost of green energy initiatives will reach more than £40 billion per year by the end of the decade, a report has revealed.

The total spent on eco policies has risen by six times since 2010, a study said – and the hikes are driving up bills.

Electricity subsidies have risen from £0.5billion in 2010/11 to £11.8billion in 2024/25 and are forecast to reach £14.9billion by 2030/31, it added.

Grid integration costs have increased from £2.8billion to £8billion over the same period and are projected to rise sharply to £25.3billion by 2030/31.

Taken together, these costs have grown six-fold since 2010/11 to £19.8billion in 2024/25 and are forecast to exceed £40billion annually by 2030/31 – equivalent to more than £1,400 per household, the Prosperity Institute report found. 

Energy researcher David Turver said: ‘These extra costs are not sustainable and run the risk of creating an economic catastrophe.

‘Drastic action is therefore required to roll back these hidden charges and bring electricity costs down. 

‘The Government can no longer treat energy bills as a cash cow to be milked to fund their dreams of achieving Net Zero.’

Aerial shot of large turbines at Ovenden Moor Wind Farm near the town of Halifax in West Yorkshire

He called for the Climate Change Act to be repealed, renewable subsidies to be ended and contracts with renewable providers to be renegotiated.

But a Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesman hit back: ‘We do not recognise these figures, which ignore the savings clean homegrown power will bring.’

Meanwhile, Maurice Cousins of Net Zero Watch said: ‘Britain’s high energy costs are not simply the result of recent geopolitical shocks, but the cumulative consequence of decisions taken by successive governments over two decades.

‘The full burden of the energy system has been deliberately obscured by dispersing it across different charging mechanisms and schemes.’