The National Grid is warning that the country should be braced for blackouts this winter if power plants can’t get enough gas to keep running.
People are being encouraged to ‘save money and back Britain’ by using more energy during off-peak times and in what it calls an ‘unlikely’ scenario, could face three-hour planned outages, to stop the grid collapsing.
The operator of the UK’s power grid has issued its bleak “winter outlook” report that details the scenario that a shortage of gas could mean “planned interruptions of electricity supply to businesses and households”.
But the lights will stay on this winter unless the gas-fired power plants that produced 43% of Britain’s electricity over the last year cannot get enough gas to continue operating
The scenario was issued on the problems facing European energy supplies following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and as a consequence if there were no imports of electricity from Europe and insufficient gas supplies.
Coal-fired power plants are also being kept online longer than planned to help cover imbalances.
Households will be paid to turn down their heating and not use their washing machines at peak time to save the country as much energy as possible and the details of how much cash they will receive will be given on November 1st
Fintan Slye, executive director of National Grid’s electricity system operator, which is in charge of balancing Britain’s electricity supplies, said he was “cautiously confident” there would be adequate supplies this winter.
But he added: “As an expert and responsible operator of Great Britain’s electricity system it is incumbent on us to also factor in external factors and risks beyond our control like the unprecedented turmoil and volatility in energy markets in Europe and beyond.”
For older people the news will be reminder of the 1970’s when strikes by miners saw scheduled power cuts for most of the country and the three day working week
Greater Manchester MP and Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner said that The National Grid’s warning is a direct consequence of a decade of Tory failure – “instead of taking responsibility for resilience, they’ve left Britain dangerously exposed.”
The Shadow Climate Change and Net Zero Secretary said that “banning onshore wind, slashing investment in energy efficiency, stalling nuclear and closing gas storage have led to higher bills and reliance on gas imports” and had left the UK “more exposed to the impact of Putin’s use of energy as a geopolitical weapon”.
