UK households face “blackouts” as energy supplies dwindle amid freezing temperatures. The UK came perilously close to issuing a blackout warning on Wednesday as wind power plunged in freezing weather amid the UK snow storm.
The grid operator, National Energy System Operator (NESO), warned on Tuesday that there was an insufficient buffer to keep the country powered during peak evening demand. It comes as the UK amber cold alerts from the UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) are extended until January 14.
“This should be a real wake-up call about the dangers of relying on weather-based generation,” Kathryn Porter, a respected independent energy consultant, said. The grid had assumed that it would be able to import 6.6 Gigawatts during “tight margins” but only 6.26 Gigawatts had been available.
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“This is a huge error”, Ms Porter said the risk was at the highest level since 2011 and “had just one power station tripped, demand control would have been a real prospect.” Conservative Party MP Claire Coutinho, Shadow Energy Secretary, told The Sun: “Ed Miliband’s obsession with wind and solar, far from giving us energy security will leave us out of pocket and at the mercy of foreign imports.
“As I said last year, we need to build more gas power plants and nuclear, so we can have cheap reliable energy.” Ms Porter said: “NESO used almost every last megawatt available with just 580 MW of cushion – only two thirds of the contingency that should be held.
“But because NESO tells everyone things are fine, even market participants may not realise just how close we came to demand control or blackouts.” Met Office yellow weather warnings for snow and ice are in force across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Amber health alerts from the UK Health Security Agency across England are valid until 9am on Tuesday.