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The United Kingdom is providing a new energy policy, which aims to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. In this case, a number of coal-fired power stations are to be closed or converted and renewable power sources, such as sun, wind, waves and biomass, are to be used instead of fossil fuels. However, this policy appeared to be not that efficient as it was supposed to.
In early November the UK energy system faced the great challenge: demand for electricity has outstripped the production of power. Consequently, on the 4th of November National Grid announced "multiple plant breakdowns" of a number of power stations. In these circumstances, British power plants turned out to be unable to fill this gap. This problem is connected with a new energy policy.
In accordance with this strategy, the United Kingdom is involving more and more wind farms. However, there was no wind during the day of energy system failure. That is why wind farms were not able to generate a sufficient amount of electricity.
It has led to the sharp rise of prices for energy. The average price for electricity equates approximately £60 per megawatt hour. Nevertheless, this price has increased by almost 50 times at one moment, totaling £2500 per megawatt hour. In order to cover the margin between supply and demand, extra 500 megawatt for two hours were to be provided.
In this case, National Grid was forced to cover all the additional outlays, connected with additional energy provision. This sum equated approximately £2.5 million. It is evident, that these expenses will be included in consumers' bills.
What is more, for the first time National Grid has undertaken quite strict measures in order to solve the problem of inadequate electricity demand. It asked companies to reduce their energy consumption between 4.30 and 6.30 p.m.
A spokesman of National Grid also underlined, that the shortage of domestic energy generation had increased the risk of blackouts. That is why such measures were undertaken.
It is also important to add, that during the day of breakdowns the weather was quite mild. I was the first time when the UK energy system faced such an increased demand for electricity before winter.
In this case, National Grid is concerned that national energy system will fail completely in the event of colder weather. It will not be able to provide consumers with heating and to keep the lights on.
On condition that the supply of energy remains insufficient, National Grid will launch one more safety mechanism, so called "last resort". In accordance with this plan, known as the supplemental balancing reserve (SBR), mothballed power stations are to be fired up.
Beyond that, the demand for energy is expected to outstrip supply again in March 2016. There are two main reasons, which have led to the decline of national energy production.
The first one is connected with weather conditions: there are 8 to 10 days per month without wind. That is to say that wind farms are not able to produce power during this period. In addition, since coal-fired power plants are to be closed, there will be no efficient alternative in terms of electricity provision.
The second reason refers to the governmental policy. As it was mentioned before, the United Kingdom is providing energy strategy, which aims to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide. In this case, those companies, which produce energy by using coal, have to pay carbon taxes. They force coal-fired power plants to shut.
In this context, the analysts of the Centre for Policy Studies underline, that those power stations, which are driven by renewable energy sources, will not be able to cope with increasing demand for electricity. Consequently, it is going to lead the UK energy system to the failure.
At the same time, they suggest one of the possible solutions. That is about gas-fired power plants. The analysts consider that the use of gas will make it possible to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide and provide consumers with sufficient amount of energy.
In summary, the breakdown of a number of British power plants, which took a place recently, has revealed the mismanagement of the UK government. Its new energy policy, which aims to make the production of electricity cleaner, turned out to be inefficient. Such policy will lead to the failure of entire energy network in the country unless necessary measures are undertaken.
