Industry experts have warned that electricity supply could fall below demand this winter forcing the UK to have periods of ‘blackout’. The announcement comes shortly after Didcot B power station was forced to lose half of its generation capacity last week following a fire that severely damaged the cooling system.
The Didcot B power station currently supplies over half a million homes with electricity, and whilst the reduced capacity alone won’t cause havoc on the UK, it is now the sixth power station that has been forced out of service this year. Collectively, these stations provide around 12% of the UK’s supply, which is a significant amount of supply considering the slim difference between supply and demand during peak times.
As it stands, experts forecast that the National Grid can still meet demand this winter, however much of this depends on the weather. If the UK is hit by an extremely cold winter, the chances of meeting demand may well fall out of our favour, especially as the power stations may not be back in service until after Christmas.