UK gas/electricity supply shortages this winter

[elbows]

Turns out there have been a bunch of different issues with various interconnectors with France this month, reducing available capacity between the countries.

Our already crappy nuclear capacity is also reduced at the moment due to a bunch of reactors offline for refuelling and one off for maintenance.

This post isnt supposed to be a doom warning though, just nerdy detail, detail I would shout a bit louder if we were deep into a cold winter at the time of the issues.

 

[elbows]

Just to update on my previous post:

One of the interconnectors, IFA with France got 500MW back compared to its recent reduction (the one damaged by fire a long time ago, now running at 1.5GW instead of full 2GW, was down to 1GW for a time recently).

But IFA2 interconnector with France is still down. Suspected cable fault, with a return date currently pencilled into the system of Feb 1st 2024. Thats 1GW lost. I dont think I've seen any media reports about this. I wouldnt necessarily expect any general media reports about this because they arent running a broader story of electricity woes at the moment that this would feed into, but I havent seen it mentioned in speciality publications yet either. So I just have the barest of info via the REMIT system.

We've got about 1GW of nuclear generation back since my previous post.

 

[elbows]

Another Demand Flexibility Service period on Wednesday:

Discounts return to cut electricity use amid cold snap

National Grid ESO's scheme offers some households a chance to save on energy bills during peak hours.

www.bbc.co.uk

National Grid ESO said it decided to offer discounts in return for people reducing their electricity consumption after its forecasts showed tighter than usual supply margins on Wednesday evening.
"These are precautionary measures to maintain the buffer of spare capacity we need," the network operator said.

The so-called Demand Flexibility Service enables households to save cash if they avoid high-power activities, such as cooking or using washing machines, for a specified period when demand is high.

The cold weather and a lack of wind is expected to contribute to higher power demand, but National Grid ESO said deploying the scheme was based on a "combination of factors".

 

[elbows]

edit - oops I had a brain fart and got the year wrong when looking at capacity notices so I have deleted this post.

 

[elbows]

Another Demand Flexibility Service period scheduled for Friday from 4.30pm to 6pm.

 

[elbows]

I am no longer posting here every time there is a Demand Flexibility Service period announced. I think I've missed a few already this month.

Meanwhile the new 'Viking Link' interconnector with Denmark has started to show some inward flows to the UK in recent days. I dont think its due to be officially commissioned will around the 29th December but they are obviously trying it already. Sounds like they cant use it at full rated capacity for quite a while though due to unfinished grid projects in a region of Denmark. All the same, they can still get 800MW out of it.