Great Britain wants to increase electricity imports from the EU

The United Kingdom will increase its electricity imports from the European Union to make up for future supply shortages caused by the government's decision to close the country's last remaining coal-fired power station.

The U.K. will have an 8.8% reserve capacity cushion this winter thanks to stronger import links with continental Europe, according to a Bloomberg report citing the newly renamed National Energy System Operator. That would be up from 7.4% last winter after a new connection to Denmark came into operation earlier this year.

“The higher margin compared to last year is due to new interconnectors, growth in battery storage capacity and an increase in electricity generation connected to the distribution networks,” NESO said, adding: “This results in shutdowns of power generation plants – such as: E.g. the…” more than offset the recent closure of Ratcliffe-on-Soar.”

While this may be the case for now, Europe will see higher electricity demand as winter approaches, affecting its ability to export as much electricity as the UK needs in winter conditions, which typically have lower and therefore lower wind speeds could reduce the output of these systems. Solar energy is also not optimal in winter, especially in a place with suboptimal conditions for solar energy output due to its geographical location.

The European Union is also striving to expand its own connection network to ensure sufficient supply for all members – including Ukraine. Due to the destruction of Ukraine's power grid and power generation facilities by the Russian military, the country is looking west for power assistance. It sounds like things will be a little longer in Europe this winter, especially if it gets colder than last year.

In fact, NESO has acknowledged the possibility of shortages. “There may still be difficult days when we need to use our standard operating tools, including the use of system notifications,” the carrier said.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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