Britain has not helped itself to prepare for potential power cuts. The government is curiously unwilling to offer advice and is suffering the consequences of a decision in 2017 to kneecap gas-storage capacity
: the threat of energy blackouts. Projections for Britain’s gas-and-electricity supply this winter were released by National Grid, an energy-transmission firm, on October 6th. They underscore the challenges ahead as continental Europe learns to operate without Russian gas, raising the risk of shortfalls in the imports that Britain relies on to heat homes and produce electricity.
Britain was already an outlier; that decision made it more unusual still. Storage facilities in the European Union are capable of meeting more than 20% of the annual demand for gas; an EU target compelling members to fill storage to 80% by November has been met. Britain’s current storage is around 2% of annual demand. Since some remaining facilities can be emptied and filled multiple times during winter, National Grid says that what remains could satisfy up to 4% of winter demand.
But when supply comes under extreme pressure, as is now the case, this argument is faulty. Even if supplies are available, the prospect of choosing between sky-high prices and blackouts is not a signal of energy security. Reports of negotiations with Equinor, a state-owned Norwegian producer, and Qatar, a major supplier of LNG to Britain, to lock in long-term supply contracts indicate that the British government has now realised this.
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