While recently discussing the BIEE energy white paper conference, I briefly mentioned the issue of domestic energy security. To many of the speakers, the real concern was not whether we would be able to source fuels from international markets but whether the energy infrastructure in the UK could provide reliable performance once the fuels arrived here. Some cited examples included the 2006 fire at Rough gas storage facilitiy and the 2000 fuel protests.
It’s uncertain whether the conference had any impact on government thinking about energy security, but events so far this week will certainly have kept domestic issues high on the agenda. The highlights so far:
- Two nuclear plants, accounting for approximately 25% of the UK’s nuclear fleet, have gone offline due to a maintenance problem. Owners British Energy are uncertain when the units will come back online.
- Owing to the nuclear problem and restrictions in gas import capacity, National Grid has called for an extra 300 MW to meet an anticipated shortfall in this winter’s generation capacity. The turmoil has increased wholesale gas and electricity prices by approximately 30%.
- There was an explosion today at the Coryton refinery in Essex. While the story is still developing, it appears that 10% of the UK’s refinery capacity will be unavailable for a while.
So there you go. It’s only Wednesday and already there are crises in electricity generation and refinery capacity. I hate to think what the rest of the week will be like.
