Amid rush to net zero, boss of gas giant Centrica reveals shivering Britain has only a week’s worth of reserves left, so… are we heading for energy blackouts?_Nhy
Ed Miliband’s ‘obsession’ with wind and solar power leaves Britain at risk of blackouts, a former energy secretary warned last night as UK gas reserves fell to ‘concerningly low’ levels.
With temperatures below zero once more this weekend, the boss of Centrica, the owner of British Gas, revealed the country has less than a week’s worth of gas in store.
The stark warning comes only a few days after the UK came ‘unsettlingly close’ to rolling power cuts on the ‘tightest day the GB electricity market has seen since 2011’.
On Wednesday, the UK’s National Energy System Operator issued an alert for electricity providers to bolster output.
It warned there was an insufficient buffer to keep the country powered, and experts later said the power market came ‘within 580MW of demand control or a blackout’.
The national grid struggled with a lack of wind power, no solar power during the night and interconnector outages.
To make up for the shortfall, grid operators had to spend up to 50 times the normal cost of electricity to keep gas power plants running. Energy Secretary Mr Miliband is pushing forward ‘ambitious’ plans to reach 95 per cent clean energy in the UK by 2030.
Last night Claire Coutinho, who was energy secretary in the previous government and now shadows Mr Miliband, criticised Labour’s net-zero crusades.
Ed Miliband’s ‘obsession’ with wind and solar power leaves Britain at risk of blackouts, a former energy secretary warned last night
There are fears Britain’s gas supply could run out in a matter of days following the recent icy weather (pictured is a person clearing snow in Bowes, Durham, on Friday)
Pictured are the liquid natural gas storage tanks at the National Grid site on the Isle of Grain in Kent
She said: ‘Ed Miliband’s obsession with wind and solar, far from giving us energy security, will leave us out of pocket, dependent on foreign imports, and at risk of blackouts.
‘As I said last year, we need to build more gas power plants and nuclear, so we can have cheap, reliable energy.’
On Thursday, stocks at UK gas storage sites were 26 per cent lower than the same period last year – leaving them about half full.
Gas inventory levels have come under pressure from the cold weather conditions and the end of Russian gas pipeline supplies through Ukraine at the end of last month.
Natural gas accounted for just over 55 per cent of power in the UK yesterday, according to National Grid data, with renewables meeting about 10 per cent of the country’s needs.
The UK has among the smallest amount of gas storage of any major European countries, with capacity to hold enough gas for 12 average days or 7.5 peak winter days.
Germany has enough for 89 days, France has 103 days and the Netherlands 123 days.
Heavy snow has covered much of the UK in recent days. Pictured is Saddleworth’s High Street
Labour wants to debarbonise the power grid by 2030, although Sir Keir Starmer (who met with Emmanuel Macron last night) recently diluted the pledge to at least 95 per cent ‘clean’ power
Hardy wild swimmers in Avon Lagoon in West Lothian, take the plunge in freezing waters on Friday morning – after smashing their way through the ice, first
Energy generation from major fossil fuel power stations fell to just over a quarter of the total last year, while other renewables, including solar, increased along with electricity imports.
A No10 spokesman said yesterday: ‘We are confident we will have a sufficient gas supply and electricity capacity to meet demand this winter, due to our diverse and resilient energy system.’
Reports the UK has been on the verge of an energy blackout are ‘not true’, they added.
