Britain's National Grid expects to meet electricity demand this winter

Reuters

Published Jun 15, 2023 08:47

Updated Jun 15, 2023 11:26

By Marwa Rashad

LONDON (Reuters) -Britain's National Grid (LON:NG) expects to have enough capacity to meet demand for electricity this winter and will keep exploring additional options amid continued supply risks following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, it said on Thursday.

Despite disruption to gas flows from Russia because of the war in Ukraine, Europe and Britain have ended the winter with a record volume of gas in storage, thanks to a mild winter, demand reduction and increased imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

This means less refilling will be needed ahead of next winter, with storage expected to be full by August/September.

In its early winter outlook, National Grid's Electricity System Operator (ESO) projected a "base case" margin of 4.8 gigawatts, or around 8% of expected demand during a cold spell. That is slightly higher than the estimate this time last year, but broadly in line with margins in previous winters.

"We expect there to be sufficient operational surplus in our Base Case throughout winter," ESO said in the report.

"In light of the continued risks and uncertainties relating to the Russian invasion of Ukraine the ESO continues to explore the potential availability of additional operational options," it added.

Gas-fired power plants were responsible for more than 40% of Britain's electricity production last year, while the fossil fuel is also used to heat around 80% of British homes.

In a separate report, Britain's National Gas Transmission company said on Thursday its forecast for an 8% reduction in local distribution zone (LDZ) demand, which mostly reflects heating demand, due to high energy prices was not expected to change and was set to continue at similar levels to last winter.

It also said that total demand for power generation would continue to decrease slightly as more renewables come online.