The chancellor Jeremy Hunt has increased the windfall tax on oil and gas giants from 25 to 35 per cent and given it a two-year extension, so that it will now run until March 2028.

A 45 per cent levy on low-carbon electricity generators has also been announced, which is estimated will raise £14bn next year.

While not reliant on generating energy from fossil fuels, low-carbon facilities such as nuclear power plants, windfarms, solar farms, hydro projects and biomass burners have nevertheless enjoyed bumper profits this year, with high wholesale gas prices pushing up the price of electricity generated from any source.

The announcement saw shares in SSE, which runs gas-fired power stations alongside hydroelectric plants and windfarms, drop by 3.75 per cent just one day after it reported a tripling of profits this quarter.

Centrica shares also dropped by 1.1 per cent, while Drax – which runs a large biomass power station in North Yorkshire – are down 3.9 per...