Grid warns of power blackouts
The parlous state of Britain's electricity supplies was put in to sharp relief today as the National Grid warned of potential power blackouts tonight.
It issued a Nism — a notice of insufficient supply margin — saying that as of earlier today, the UK is short of 700 megawatts of electricity to supply this evening's peak power demand.
The Nism was issued as it emerged that the interconnector electricity supply line between France and England is partially down until next week, taking out 500MW of potential supply.
Grid warnings are more usually issued during cold snaps in early winter. Many power stations are out of commission at this time of year because of seasonal maintenance.
The warning initially tripled spot prices for wholesale electricity.
