There is a growing risk of power shortages over the next few years,
according to a report commissioned for the prime minister.

The Royal Academy of Engineering said the closure of older power plants and
the slow progress in building news ones was likely to stretch the system
“close to its limits”.

Supply is particularly expected to come under strain in the winter of 2014-15.

Last week the National Grid warned of a higher risk of blackouts this winter.

Cold winters warning

The new study was commissioned by the prime minister’s Council for Science
and Technology to find out how stretched power supplies are likely to be
during this decade.

“Although the electricity supply is expected to be sufficient to cover
predicted levels of demand, it is likely to stretch the system close to its
limits, notably during the winter of 2014-15,” the report said.

Dr John Roberts, one of its authors, added: “We’ve looked back at real
events that happened in the past which caused shocks to our system – like
very cold winters, like major power stations shutting down.

“If those things happen again in the future and we don’t take measures to
correct what’s going on, then there’s a serious risk that we will have
power shortages.”

To avoid what its authors called “a blackout scenario by 2020”, the report
called on ministers to:

introduce interim measures to maintain capacity before energy market
reforms are introduced next year
resolve the reform process as soon as possible
work with the industry to “foster a constructive dialogue” with the public
on energy policy

Reacting to the report, Business Minister Michael Fallon said: “The lights
are not going to go out. There will be a tightness in supply if nothing is
done but stuff is being done.

“We’ve opened six new gas plants already. Another is being built. You’re
going to hear very soon about our investment in new nuclear power stations.”

Two years ago the UK had a buffer between energy supply and demand of 16%,
but this winter that will fall to 5% and it could hit 2% by 2015, according
to the National Grid and the energy regulator, Ofgem.


SAS Volunteer

We publish content from 3rd party sources for educational purposes. We operate as a not-for-profit and do not make any revenue from the website. If you have content published on this site that you feel infringes your copyright please contact: webmaster@scotlandagainstspin.org to have the appropriate credit provided or the offending article removed.

1 Comment

Leave a Reply

Avatar placeholder

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *