Three more power stations are set to close this March

We’ve been banging on about the risks to our electricity supply since 2010. This was the year when it became clear that the UK was going to be closing old, clapped out power stations but had forgotten to build any new capacity to replace them. Of course in 2010, Hinkley C was the panacea, not the unviable cock up that most people now accept it to be.

What has always staggered us is that the wider public don’t seem at all concerned about this. A modern economy like ours depends entirely on a dependable supply of reliable and cheap electricity. Our factories,  shops, offices, schools and hospitals wouldn’t be able to function with the same degree of output if electricity supplies are disrupted.

The latest acknowledgment that this is exactly what is going to happen comes from law firm Bircham Dyson Bell and is reported in CityAM. It notes that This March three power stations are due to close, resulting in the loss of over 5,000 megawatts. 

That’s a lot of electricity. Solar and wind capacity already installed will take up some of the slack but there will remain a deficit. The report ends with this ominous warning from someone in the know, Brian Galloway, Director of Energy Policy at Scottish Power

“Managing next winter could be very challenging. A cold winter would exacerbate the situation,” said Brian Galloway, director of energy policy at Scottish Power.

It may be that the public won’t wake up to the pickle our tinkering politicians have landed us in until they can’t charge their iPhones and Eastenders is interrupted by power cuts.

Read more at City A.M

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