FT: “Businesses will be paid to cut their energy use on winter evenings next year, highlighting the rising threat of blackouts as the UK’s ageing coal plants are closed. The proposal comes amid repeated warnings from the energy regulator Ofgem about the increased risk of power shortages by the middle of the decade.” “These have stoked fears that Britain could soon be facing its first sustained wave of blackouts since the 1970s.
….The fear of rising energy costs comes as Britain prepares to close a fifth of its power-generating capacity in the coming years. The governing coalition is seeking to plug the gap with £110bn of investment in new energy infrastructure, much of it in offshore wind farms and nuclear power stations.
But there are fears the new plants will not come on line quickly enough to overcome the imminent dip in power supplies.”
Future Today
