A whistleblower described the plan to help hit the government’s green targets as a ‘massive gamble’ and warned that it involved ‘truly insane risk-taking’
Britain is facing an increased risk of nationwide electricity blackouts because of a money-saving rule change. A whistleblower described the plan to help hit the government’s green targets as a “massive gamble” and “truly insane risk-taking”.
The National Energy System Operator (Neso) is preparing to operate the grid with reduced levels of “inertia”, which acts as a “natural shock absorber” to keep the lights on in the event that a power plant fails.
It said the new lower minimum inertia threshold, which has been approved but not yet implemented, would save consumers £96 million a year. The state-owned body added that it would also give it “the flexibility to run the system greener” and pave the way to hit the government’s 2030 clean power target.
But some of Britain’s biggest electricity companies said the move would leave the country at greater risk of energy wipeouts, like those that hit the Iberian peninsula last year.
Drax, the operator of the country’s largest power plant, warned that the change could “compromise safety and reliability”. It added that savings would be “immaterial compared to potential costs of system failure that may arise as a result of reduced resilience from the tighter proposed operational inertia limits”.
EDF, which operates Britain’s nuclear reactors, said that the change “may impact system resilience” and reducing inertia now would be “premature”.
It said new nuclear projects such as those it was building would “play a vital role in future” in providing system stability, including inertia and added: “Resilience is crucial to support the UK economy.
“Any wider system issue that leads to countrywide or regional blackouts will incur an economic loss far greater than any stated saving of lower minimum inertia levels.”
Ofgem, the energy regulator, approved the change in May despite the industry concerns, which were raised in a consultation last year. A spokesman said: “We approved Neso’s revised plan only after considering stakeholder concerns, further evidence and independent technical advice, and with safeguards in place. This is not a blanket approval to operate at lower inertia.”
Neso, which has yet to confirm the timescale for the change, insisted there would be “no tangible increase” in risk because it could use rapid-response batteries to respond to supply shocks.
In a statement, it said: “The secure operation of Great Britain’s electricity system is Neso’s highest priority. The analysis shows these proposals will maintain system security while delivering significant savings for consumers.”