Power is becoming more and more unreliable | Don’t get left out in the cold

As the population increases, the demand for power is ever-growing. Each year, more and more pressure is put on the National Grid and it’s struggling to cope.

Avoid the disruption and invest in a generator today so you can sleep soundly this winter.

Here are the factors increasing the chance of power cuts this winter

Brexit

Gas is our main source of flexible generation, providing baseload, peaking and security of supply.

The UK currently produces less than 45% of our total demand, the rest is made up of imports, the majority of which come via pipelines from Europe.

Brexit has been postponed until January but it still looms over us, threatening the supply and the price of natural gas.

We are assured by Ofgem and the Government that the UK’s supply will be uninterrupted, but energy industry insiders are warning that their will inevitably be additional problems and risks in power generation for the immediate future after Brexit.

Weather

Every year, cold weather during winter puts pressure on the National Grid.

Our Boilers work harder to keep the family warmer, we stay home more, and we have to have the lights on for longer because it’s dark outside.

All of this means we use much more energy so our power stations work much harder.

This year, meteorologists are predicting the coldest winter in 50 years.

The UK`s infrastructure is struggling to cope.

Weather can also bring storms, snow and ice which can damage infrastructure causing power outages.

Inflexibility

The UK is also moving away from coal towards renewable energy generation, particularly solar and offshore wind,

While we can all agree that this is a good move for our planet, it leaves us in a bit of a sensitive situation when we consider the upcoming winter.

Unfortunately, renewable generation remains inflexible.

The coal plants which are being phased out were an extremely flexible option that could be relied upon to help support the grid during times of increased demand.

This combined with the relative inflexibility of the UK’s nuclear stations means there’s growing uncertainty about the flexibility of the National Grid.

Gas Storage

Gas storage is gas kept underground in liquid form until it’s required. Most countries utilise gas storage as a back-up to their other power generation methods.
Over the last few years, the UK has lost most of its gas storage capacity. We’ve actually got one of the lowest storage capacities in Europe. Germany, for example, has 17x more stored gas than the UK.
During the intense ‘Beast from the East` last winter, the UK’s supply dropped so low that we had just 5 days supply left.
As a nation, we are dangerously close to running out of Gas.

Secure your POWER requirements today

For inquiries about larger power requirements, talk to a member of our team.