We're preparing for this winter

Since Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine in February, and the resulting impact on European energy supplies, all parts of National Grid have been working closely with Government, industry and others to plan for every eventuality this winter. 

Our people have been working tirelessly over recent months to ensure our network remains as resilient as reliable as possible, and I want to be clear: the base case modelling by the Electricity System Operator and Gas System Operator – which is the most likely scenario over the coming months - shows that there will be sufficient supply of electricity and gas to meet customer demand. But we’ve also planned for worst case scenarios to ensure we are prepared if there is no electricity flowing from Europe through our interconnectors, and there is also a shortage of gas supply to the UK. This is an unlikely scenario but, as a responsible operator of the UK’s energy grid, one we must be ready for. 

Should this happen, we have a number of new tools, which we’ve created or implemented in the last six months, to help us balance the system in order to keep power flowing. 

The Electricity System Operator can call on additional supply from coal-fired power stations – enough electricity to power 600,000 homes. 

The Gas System Operator can ask industry to voluntarily reduce gas consumption. 

Margins notices can be issued to ensure that producers and shippers will be doing all they can to maximise gas supplies arriving in the UK.  

And, in a new approach, households and businesses will be able to volunteer to be paid to shift their electricity consumption away from peak times to lower overall demand. 

In the very unlikely event that these measures don’t reduce demand sufficiently, the System Operator may issue orders to local distribution companies to interrupt the power supply to different parts of the country for short periods of time. Certain protected sites – such as major hospital facilities and air traffic control centres – would be unaffected, but no residential customers would be exempt.  

Interruption to electricity supply would typically last for about three hours and different households would be impacted on different days. 

However, this final measure would not be done without warning and households and businesses would be contacted. We will be working closely with others across the industry and with government to consider how vulnerable customers can be supported.

There are things we can all do, as individuals and as communities, to make power cuts this winter even less likely.

If your energy supplier has registered to take part in the Electricity System Operator’s new demand flexibility service – where homes and business can volunteer to be paid to use electricity at off peak times – then please consider signing up to it and taking action when asked when this service is launched next month. The more people who do this, the more demand can be managed and spread over the course of the whole day, lessening the likelihood of any need for disconnections.

There are also longer-term actions we can take as a country.  

More home grown clean energy is the clearest route to better security of supply, and increased energy independence. National Grid is playing our part, with significant investment in major infrastructure projects to connect offshore wind and transport renewable power across the country from where it is generated to where it is needed.

We’ll continue to collaborate closely with the government, regulator and wider industry and do all we can to ensure the UK can move quickly to a clean, secure and affordable energy system.

To face the immediate challenge of this winter, National Grid, alongside government and industry, will be fully focused on reducing the risks that Russia’s weaponization of gas poses to the UK. The analysis shows that a winter where power cuts are necessary is highly unlikely, but if geopolitical events significantly impact our supplies, we are ready.