The warning comes from British Gas owner Centrica, who said today that the UK now has less than a week’s worth of gas demand in store
A warning has been issued as the UK has “concerningly low levels” of gas supplies after the stint of freezing weather.
The warning comes from British Gas owner Centrica, who said today that the UK now has less than a week’s worth of gas demand in store. On Thursday, stocks at UK gas storage sites were 26% lower than the same period last year, leaving them about half full, the energy giant said.
Cold weather conditions over the last week and the end of Russian gas pipeline supplies through Ukraine on December 31 have put pressure on the UK’s gas inventory levels. Centrica boss Chris O’Shea said today, “The UK’s gas storage levels are concerningly low.
“We are an outlier from the rest of Europe when it comes to the role of storage in our energy system and we are now seeing the implications of that. Energy storage is what keeps the lights on and homes warm when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow, so investing in our storage capacity makes perfect economic sense. We need to think of storage as a very valuable insurance policy.”
Centrica operates the country’s largest gas storage site, Rough, a facility under the North Sea off the east coast of England. The company revealed that gas storage was already lower than usual due to temperatures plummeting quicker than average this December. This comes as the UK recorded its coldest night of this winter so far on Thursday, with more freezing temperatures expected in the coming days.
The Met Office has said Friday will see “the start of a change to our weather”, but this is expected to make only “limited progress” and patchy rain, sleet and snow is expected across parts of south-west Britain.
A No 10 spokesman said: “We are confident we will have a sufficient gas supply and electricity capacity to meet demand this winter, due to our diverse and resilient energy system. We speak regularly with the national energy system operator to monitor our energy security, and ensure they have all tools at their disposal if needed to secure our supply. Our mission to deliver clean power by 2030 will replace our dependency on unstable fossil fuel markets with clean, homegrown power controlled in Britain, which is the best way to protect bill payers and boost our energy independence.”
Reports the UK has been on the verge of an energy blackout are “not true”, the spokesman added.
