UK National Grid warns of widespread blackouts in winter
The UK's National Grid has warned over the “tight” supply of electricity this winter and raised the alarm over a greater risk of blackouts, as energy prices are sky-rocketing in the country.
The electricity and gas utility company said on Thursday that the rising demand and capacity constraints have led to the electricity crisis, amid a record surge in the price of natural gas which the UK relies on to generate about half of its power supply.
Industry leaders have called for “urgent action,” as the government engineers have estimated that the amount of reserved energy supply the country will have at peak times will be the lowest in six years.
Record high energy prices in Britain contributed to nine energy suppliers going bust last month, and caused some industrial firms to curtail production. Experts has warned that rising energy prices could add 30 percent to bills next year.
The development comes in the wake of a dramatically rising inflation and a supply chain crisis threatening shortages of food all over the UK.
According to the British Chambers of Commerce, nearly two-thirds of UK manufacturers plan to raise their prices in the run-up to Christmas due to rising inflation. The cost of some supermarket staples has already risen by up to 44 percent.
Meanwhile, a fire at the UK side of the France-Britain IFA1 electricity interconnector has cut available capacity through the link by half (1,000 megawatts) until March next year. The other half of the IFA1 link’s capacity is currently down due to planned repairs and is set to be back online by late October.
Adding to the supply crisis, Omni Energy has said that it expects to become the 13th UK energy supplier to go bust this year.
As the UK is struggling to keep up with soaring demand of energy during a bleak winter, it has emerged that house prices have risen by the most in almost 15 years with their climb to new record high levels.
Britons also face the biggest squeeze on their finances for more than a decade because of inflation, rising prices and looming multiple tax increases all coupled with product shortages caused by a lack of workforce and truck drivers.
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