The UK's National Grid gas deficit warning has been withdrawn
The UK energy network operator, the National Grid, issued a warning on 1 March referring to gas supplies running out due to high demand.
This was due to uncommon sub-zero temperatures in the UK recently, driving up consumption and impacting the National Grid’s demand – hitting the highest for six years.
The National Grid warned of reducing supplies to power generation and big industry in order to control the situation, but the first deficit warning issued in eight years has been retracted following an increase in gas supplies.
“The market has continued to respond over the last 24 hours and we have seen an increase of supplies into the network,” stated a National Grid spokesperson, the BBC reported.
“As the extremely cold weather continues we expect to see high demand on the gas network, so we are continuing to monitor developments closely.”
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“Protecting customer supplies is always our first priority and we would like to reassure them that this high demand has not affected their domestic gas supplies”.
During the warning, Peter Bance, the CEO of Origami Energy reported: “We need to protect consumers in their homes first, so you start by turning down gas fired power stations and ensuring that large users of gas turn down their use.”
“The UK needs to look at this from both regulatory and economic viewpoints, to make sure the consumer doesn’t get hit.”
“There will be an impact on business but there are a number of tools to fix this in the long term. You can price consumption in a way which encourages people to change the way they use energy, without impacting business operations when these supply shocks come. That means being proactive not reactive.
“What National Grid is seeing is a system impact. We are going green as a country, using cleaner fuels and renewables. Our move away from traditional power stations means that we have less flexibility to control our energy systems. The long-term direction of travel is to use cleaner fossil fuel and more renewables, but to enable this, you need flexibility.
