National Grid “Last Resort” Scrapped – Guarantee Your Power Supplies This Winter

The shentongroup team is certainly enjoying the glorious warm weather throughout our various UK offices and depots, where we’re still working hard, we hasten to add. Winter is one of the very last things we should be thinking about at the moment, surely? Turning to The Telegraph however, Energy Editor, Emily Gosden writes how the National Grid’s ‘Last Resort’ power plan scheme, whereby businesses are paid to cut their power usage during weekday evenings, is being scrapped due to lack of participants.

Having explored a variety of strategies to counteract the lowest reserve power levels in recent years, National Grid introduced the “Demand Side Balancing Reserve Scheme’ after power plants broke down last winter and it continued to decommission aged coal power stations quicker than it could commission newer, greener gas power plants. Under this ’last resort’ scheme, businesses are encouraged to cut their total electricity usage, or switch to alternative off-grid power supplies, such as back-up generators, between the hours of 4pm and 8pm.

National Grid was hoping to recruit enough businesses to reduce their demand by some 177 megawatts (MW), yet only managed to attract enough companies to save 30 MW from companies willing to take part in the scheme between 5pm and 6pm; the time when the country typically hits its peak and when the last resort measures are most likely to be needed.

A number of reliable sources believe that the National Grid’s very low reserve power levels are not set to be alleviated until at least 2020. With very few gas power stations having made it to operational status thus far and with the final decision on Hinkley nuclear power station still to come, there is no clear resolution to reserve power problems. Therefore, the prospect of brownouts and blackouts this coming winter are a very real threat to organisations that depend on reliable, continuous power supplies.

shentongroup provides organisations of all sizes and spanning all industries with the backup generators, uninterruptible power supplies and combined heat and power system solutions they need to assert their independence from National Grid electricity supplies and to guarantee their businesses are fully operational, 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. To discuss your options, speak to a member of the shentongroup team now (click here).