NATIONAL Grid has warned that British households face blackouts this winter.
It comes after National Grid previously admitted that Britain may not have enough power to run the country if the energy crisis continues.
The blackouts could be imposed on the coldest days this winter
And now the head of National Grid, John Pettigrew said that blackouts could be imposed on British households in January and February.
The blackouts could occur on the coldest days between 4pm and 7pm.
John Pettigrew said that electricity and gas supplies may be temporarily switched off in the “deepest, darkest evenings in January and February.
Mr Pettigrew made the comments at the Financial Times’s Energy Transition Summit yesterday.
If the power cuts do go ahead, it will be the first time there have been controlled blackouts since the 1970s.
There are 15 power networks in the UK, and if there is a looming shortage, the National Grid will notify households if they will be cut off temporarily.
Chunks of households in particular areas could be cut off with the homes which have their supply turned off rotated to avoid the entire country being plunged into darkness.
Colder temperatures during the winter naturally lead to more energy being consumed as people turn the heating on and have to use electricity for longer periods of the day.
The risk is that since Russia’s flow of gas to Europe has stopped there is less supply which can be imported to Britain.
Europe has been so short of energy over the summer that British generators have been exporting more energy to France.
The news follows National Grid’s pushing a “demand flexibility service” which could mean households will be paid to reduce their energy usage at peak times.
The scheme will mean that people could be paid to put on their washing machines or charge their electric cars during off-peak hours.
And people are now being encouraged to sign up with their electricity supplier for a scheme which will give them money back on their bills.
The “demand flexibility service” will run from November to March, and it is being introduced to help prevent blackouts.
The scheme will run 12 times to ensure people are rewarded, even if there are no blackouts this winter.
Ovo Energy and Octopus Energy are the first energy suppliers to have announced their schemes.
But the scheme has led some charities to warn households about the risk of fire when using their appliances during the night.
Why could there be blackouts this winter?
There has been unprecedented turmoil in energy markets in Europe, due to shortfalls in gas caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Around 40% of the UK’s electricity supply is generated from gas.
The National Grid says we are expecting a “challenging” winter and it is planning for what would happen if we’re unable to import electricity from Europe meaning the UK didn’t get enough gas.
Previously the National Grid has always said that if there were planned blackouts, these would only affect big businesses and not households.
To tackle a loss of imports from France, Belgium and the Netherlands, there are two gigawatts of coal-fired power plants on stand-by to fire up if needed to meet demand.
When could they happen?
If there are days this winter that is cold – creating high demand and low levels of wind power – then National Grid may need to interrupt supply for limited periods.
The worst period for supply is likely to be throughout December to mid-January, excluding the Christmas period.
The National Grid says that there would be planned three-hour blackouts in some areas.
But the gas and electricity supplier has now confirmed that these planned blackouts will occur between 4pm and 7pm on the coldest days between January and February.
The number of people left without electricity would depend on how many gas power stations would be forced to shut if there is not enough gas.
It did warn that this is a worst-case scenario.
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