Power shortage could leave you with blank TVs and computers
BRITISH households are facing the prospect of ‘ brown- outs’ this autumn – a reduction in electricity supply that could lead to appliances not working.
The National Grid is warning that it may have to reduce the power supplied to homes to prevent total black-outs.
The first brown-out could come within ten days, leaving TV and computer screens blank and kettles struggling to boil water.
A report from the energy network operator yesterday warned that Britain faced the greatest danger of power shortages in almost a decade.It said there is an ‘increased likelihood’ there will be ‘insufficient supply available in the market to meet demand’.
This is because older power stations that were closed to meet EU emissions targets have not been replaced, leaving the country more dependent on unreliable wind farms and power imported from nations such as France and the Netherlands via undersea cables. The National Grid may have to impose emergency measures to keep the lights on, including reducing the power to homes – known as voltage reduction – and paying factories to shut down mid-afternoon.
These could be used if a cold snap that drives up demand combines with a period of low wind, rendering wind turbines useless, and unexpected power losses among existing plants.
The brown-outs are likely to be short-lived and during peak periods of demand in the late afternoon and early evening. Lights will dim but remain on.
However, analysts say the voltage reduction will play havoc with domestic appliances. Household TVs and computers are designed to run at 240 volts, and will not be able to operate if the voltage falls below 230.
But under National Grid plans, the voltage running into homes could be turned down by 5 per cent – taking it to 228, or even lower. This would slow down electric clocks, make kettles boil more slowly and cause other electrical appliances to shut down, according to experts.
Peter Atherton, an energy analyst at investment bank Jefferies, said: ‘Modern electrical equipment has a relatively small tolerance. They have been designed and built to run on 240 volts.
‘If you reduce that they’re getting less juice, which makes them work with less energy. If it drops enough, then the equipment will just stop working – 5 per cent is a lot in the electricity world.’
Another measure involves paying factories to power down between 4pm and 8pm to reduce the strain on the electricity grid.
Several factories have signed
‘The margins will be tight’
up to the scheme, where they are given advanced warning and offered compensation.
The measures were in place last winter, but were not used because the weather was relatively mild. But the report says there are ‘forecasts of a colder winter than the previous two years’.
The National Grid’s report says the week beginning October 26 could pose the first test of supplies because several power are plants due to be offline for maintenance – just when the clocks go back and herald longer, darker evenings. It has previously said that the gap between supply and demand could fall as low as 1.2 per cent over winter if emergency measures are not deployed.
Despite the warnings, Cordi O’Hara, a director at the National Grid, said: ‘Our analysis suggests that electricity margins will continue to be tight but manageable throughout the winter period.’
But critics slammed the proposals, with Brian Strutton from the GMB union, which represents energy workers, describing the scheme to pay factories to shut down as ‘ bonkers’. He accused the Government and the National Grid of complacency over the risk of black-outs.