Electricity margins ?tighter? this winter
The electricity system operator has warned that spare electricity capacity on the system this winter will be at a seven-year low, but it said contingency plans were in place to manage the peak supply/demand balance.
The electricity system operator has warned that spare electricity capacity on the system this winter will be at a seven-year low, but it said contingency plans were in place to manage the peak supply/demand balance.
In National Grid’s 2014-15 Winter Outlook, which was published on 28 October, electricity capacity margins were shown to have decreased, with the average cold spell margin expected to be 4.1% – the narrowest margin seen since 2006-07. This fall is attributed to planned generator closures, breakdowns and new plant not coming online as quickly as expected. National Grid expects this winter to stay within the loss of load expectation (LOLE) Reliability Standard at 1.6 hours. But the system operator maintained that the market was prepared for this challenge, and that it was not expecting blackouts this winter.
Gas, on the other hand, was said to be in a strong position this winter, with supplies, storage and network capacity in excess of anticipated maximum demand.