UK has to maintain two power grids capable of supplying its needs – one for renewables – and the 100% back up grid AND IMPORTS required when it doesn’t

PETER HALLIGAN

From Brave AI:

“The UK’s power grid operator, National Energy System Operator (NESO), issued a warning on January 8, 2025, to encourage electricity providers to increase output and avert the risk of blackouts due to high demand and low wind power generation. As of January 9, 2025, it was reported that the UK came “within a whisker of blackouts” on January 8, with the grid operators scrambling to keep the lights on amidst plunging temperatures and tight supplies. The situation was managed through the use of routine tools and paying high prices to gas-fired power stations to generate additional power.”

NESO is the “qango” hat was formed by the borrowing of taxpayer funds to purchase the grid assets of National Grid plc for £630 million pounds om Friday 13^th September 2024 – an inauspicious day just fur months ago that has already seen this risk emerge.

“On January 8, 2025, NESO issued an alert to increase system margins due to a lack of spare capacity in the grid from 4pm to 7pm, seeking 1,200 megawatts (MW) of power.
The actual demand on January 8 was 46.8 GW, exceeding NESO’s predicted maximum demand of 44.4 GW, and the grid operators had to resort to paying gas-fired power stations high prices to keep the lights on.
Two power stations, Rye House and Connah’s Quay, were paid a combined £12m to supply just three hours of electricity during the evening peak.
The situation was described by independent energy consultant Kathryn Porter as the UK coming “within a whisker of blackouts” on January 8, with the grid coming within 580 MW of demand control or a blackout.

The UK’s energy strategy is a complete mess. It has taken less than four months for a brand-new government owned and operated qango to create a power crisis.

Check this out from Q2 2024:

Britain imports one fifth of its electricity | Q2 2024 Quarterly Report | Electric Insights

“Electricity imports have reached record levels, with 19.8% of demand met by overseas sources over the three months to June. For the first time ever, more than a tenth of electricity came from France alone, and the cost of imported electricity rose to over £250 million per month. Overall, Britain imported 12.2 TWh last quarter, more than the country’s nuclear output (10.7 TWh), and close to total production from fossil fuels (13.6 TWh). In comparison, exports were just 3 TWh.

Not only does the UK have to import electricity from France, now that exploration of the North Sea has been banned (another genius move by the Marxist Labour government) it has to import oil and gas from Norway.

Such is the hypocritical virtue signalling of the “woke”, lunatic Marxists.

It doesn’t’ stop there.

There are plans afoot to consolidate all the 600 or so local authority pension funds (which suck up 40% of the entire budgets of local council budgets) into one big pension fund “pot” and direct that pot to invest in renewable projects – that will go bust in a few years – because no-one else will invest in the ridiculous renewable energy projects!!!

How else can Marxists archive their goal of high inflation, the bankrupting of the nation, mass unemployment and poverty!

All whilst households have to pay FIV times the cost of hydrocarbon energy such as natural gas.

Revolution required!

Also check UT this week’s Energy Newsbeat podcast here:

Wind Blows – Is Bruce Willis right?

Stick around for the dog doing ALL the laundry and housework towards the end.

“You can’t beat a great movie line, and Bruce Willis has some of the best. Like “Welcome to the Party Pal” or “Skys Blue, Waters Wet, and Wind Blows.” –

But does the wind always blow when it is really needed for electricity? We are seeing across the globe that intermittent energy means just that.

You won’t want to miss this week’s Energy Realities podcast with Tammy Nemeth, Irina Slav, David Blackmon, and Stu Turley as they talk about the issues around wind energy. Live on X, YouTube and LinkedIn on Monday morning at 8:00

Back to the electronic insights article:

“Much of Britain’s conventional generation has retired in the last decade, with 18 GW of coal, 4 GW of nuclear, and 3 GW of gas power shutting down. Fewer generators mean higher prices as there is less competition between suppliers, but capacity changes on the continent are also influencing electricity trade. Much of Europe now has excess power generation, as countries have rapidly expanded their solar PV capacity to reduce reliance on Russian gas. Germany and the Netherlands installed 28 and 14 GW over the last three years (compared to just 2 GW in Britain), so spring and summer are now characterised by negative prices across the continent, which Britain can import at low cost.”

That low cost in the last sentence is now high cost!

Onwards!

This article (UK has to maintain two power grids capable of supplying its needs – one for renewables – and the 100% back up grid AND IMPORTS equired when it doesn’t) was created and published by Peter Halligan and is republished here under “Fair Use

*****

RELATED:

The UK faces a fate worse than blackout

To keep the lights on, industry and consumers will continue to pay ever-higher prices for energy

TONY LODGE

Centrica’s stark warning on Friday that Britain’s gas storage is now “concerningly low” came hot on the heels of last week’s desperate plan to keep the lights on, with households paying some of Britain’s oldest power stations £2 million an hour to meet demand.

Last week saw just the coldest January night in Britain for 15 years but was also the first real test for Britain’s new National Energy System Operator (NESO). Could it convince us that it was able to deliver reliable and affordable supplies and was fit for purpose? It failed on both counts. As a result consumers and businesses are now facing huge extra costs which will find their way onto bills in the coming months.

Britain now has the highest industrial energy prices in the world, has fallen out of the world’s top 10 manufacturers, increasingly risks power rationing, and is spending over £3 billion a year to import electricity from Europe. A generation of flawed energy policies have wreaked havoc on consumers and the problem is getting worse, contrary to Ed Miliband’s belief that prioritising wind and solar over new nuclear and gas is the answer.

Britain’s prices are nearly 50 per cent above the International Energy Agency median for industrial electricity and 80 per cent above the median for domestic users. Our businesses pay almost four times as much as Americans for power and our consumers three times. This is hugely concerning when Labour’s net zero plans will see Britain using much more electricity for cars and household heating, irrespective of it being far more expensive than gas.

Following its launch in October, NESO released its Winter Outlook report which forecast peak electricity demand would be 44.4 gigawatts (GW) at any one time. But last week saw demand for electricity close to 50 GW. At this critical time, output from wind turbines had fallen away and there were problems importing power from Europe on which Britain is becoming overdependent.

The crunch forced NESO to pay huge sums to fire up gas fired power stations to cover the gap; at one stage on Wednesday night it was paying one 30 year old power plant £5,500 per megawatt hour for just 400 megawatts (MW) of capacity between 4 and 7pm. This is 50 times the recent market price. Overall the scheme cost £2.3 million per hour.

Britain’s chronic lack of gas storage, at just 12 days, is another failure of national planning. While France enjoys robust storage at 113 days and Germany at 89, the failure to act will now encourage suppliers to charge more when demand spikes on cold days, especially as Britain is one of Europe’s largest per capita users of gas. Why wasn’t storage prioritised, especially after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine?

The failure of this most important national policy represents one of the biggest failings in statecraft since World War Two. The consequences are stark, ranging from the loss of our competitiveness and rising fuel poverty, to the UK becoming dangerously vulnerable to future energy crises. And for what end?

Facts are important. Between 2004 and 2021, before the war in Ukraine, the industrial price of energy in Britain tripled in nominal terms (153 per cent) or doubled relative to consumer prices. Electricity prices have doubled since 2019. This has led to a huge slice of Britain’s manufacturing base already choosing to relocate overseas. Since 2010, over 200,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost; as a share of GDP, manufacturing has halved since the 1990s.

The Telegraph: continue reading

Featured image: ecowatch.com

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