Britain’s electrical system operator has once again pleaded with generators to make extra electricity on Thursday to cover unexpectedly tight margins as it faces extraordinary allegations made in Parliament of covering up the extent of grid vulnerability to blackouts.
The UK’s National Energy Systems Operator (NESO), the 2024-founded energy grid body tasked with balancing the supply and demand of electricity in real time, has issued a margin warning for Thursday. This is the third such margin warning of the summer — and previously unheard of, as in the era before the focus on decarbonisation energy shortfalls were only ever encountered in the deep winter — and NESO stated on Wednesday its forecasts for Thursday evening had identified a shortage of 1.2 gigawatts, the equivalent to the loss of a whole Sizewell B-sized nuclear power plant.
The shortage comes as hot, calm weather across north-western Europe sees energy demand rise, but supply fall as wind turbines stand idle.
Hellbound and Down 