By Susanna Twidale
LONDON (Reuters) -Britain’s Electricity System Operator (ESO) said on Thursday it expects to have sufficient supplies this winter, in an early outlook of the supply and demand balance for the period.
The opening of a new power link with Denmark, new gas-fired power plants and more batteries on the system had all increased the likely amount of power available, it said.
“Our initial assessment of the winter ahead indicates that we will have sufficient margins throughout the period,” Kayte O’Neill, ESO’s chief operating officer, said.
ESO said its base case for de-rated margin, which is a measure of the amount of excess capacity expected above peak electricity demand, is currently 5.6 gigawatts (GW) for winter 2024/25, or 9.4% of capacity, up from 4.4 GW, or 7.4% of capacity, last winter.
In 2022, the operator warned Britain could face three-hour planned power cuts if the country was unable to import enough gas as Europe grappled with lower supplies following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Global energy markets are showing signs of stability, but uncertainties remain and therefore as a prudent system operator we remain vigilant, continuing to monitor potential risks and working closely with our partners to establish any actions necessary to build resilience,” O’Neill said.
(Reporting by Susanna Twidale; editing by Jason Neely and Sriraj Kalluvila)
