Brits should prepare for afternoon and early evening powercuts early next year if gas imports are reduced, warns the chief of the National Grid.
Speaking at the Financial Times's Energy Transition Summit, National Grid chief John Pettigrew, warned of the potential risks of a 'worst-case scenario' if Britain can not import gas from Europe should a 'Beast from the East' spell of extreme cold hit the country.
With Russian exports to Europe cut following the closure of the Nordstream pipeline, the UK's supply could be under threat in the event of a cold spell. Although Britain is not as reliant on Russian exports as other European countries, it has imported gas from European neighbors at times of high demand. Those countries may be reluctant to export the gas if they can not easily secure more from elsewhere.
Read more: 1970s style planned power cuts could return as National Grid spells out worst case scenario
Under a worst-case scenario there could be three-hour power cuts “probably between 4pm and 7pm in the evenings on those weekdays when it’s really, really cold in January and February”, Mr Pettigrew told the FT.
Mr Pettigrew is confident that there will be enough gas to meet demand, but said that “in the context of the terrible things that are going on in Ukraine and the consequences of that [it was] right that we set out what some of the potential risks could be.”
Earlier this month, the National Grid - which owns energy transmission networks in the UK - revealed it has plans for a potential gas supply shortage. While blackouts are potentially planned if the situation is dire, it hopes to avoid that through measures like incentivising using less power at peak times.
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