Whilst the National Grid has confirmed it is preparing for the possibility of having to hold three-hour blackouts in parts of the UK this winter, in an effort to protect the network and to stop it from potentially collapsing, officials have said the need to have a blackout is "unlikely".
Earlier, staff at the National Grid's Electricity System Operator (ESO) said the National Grid, one of the world's largest electricity and gas distribution companies, was facing a "challenging" winter after Russia's invasion of Ukraine and amid an energy crisis - and so it had begun planning for what could happen if Britain was unable to import electricity from Europe and/or had insufficient gas supplies.
The ESO said UK households and businesses might have to face interruptions to their electricity supplies, in the form of planned three-hour outages, to ensure the National Grid doesn't collapse - while people could be offered money back on their bills if they agree to only use homeware products that use lots of electricity, such as washing machines and tumble driers, outside of peak times. It's understood the National Grid want to reduce total consumption of electricity by 5%.
