IET reacts to Royal Academy Energy report
The Royal Academy of Engineering study, GB electricity capacity margin, published today, highlights the need to act now to avoid energy shortfalls.
Dr Simon Harrison, Chair of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) Energy Policy Panel said: “This is a useful report which looks at a worst case scenario where everything that could go wrong does go wrong and all at the same time.
“The report highlights the need to facilitate a rapid move to deployment of new large-scale electricity generation to avoid supply shortfalls over the next ten years, and also to enable the transition to a low carbon energy system.
“Capacity is tightening and there is a need to progress market reform to the point where capacity gets built. However the consequences of unfortunate combinations of events (e.g. cold winter combined with plant failures beyond normal levels) would not be national blackouts. There are a number of tools already in place to manage such situations, including voltage reductions, commercial contracts for short term reductions of demand by industry, and in extremis controlled and localised power cuts for short periods.
“The Institution of Engineering and Technology has long argued for a balanced energy portfolio including nuclear and has drawn attention to the risks of uncertainty created by the lack of long term strategic planning which is causing potential generators to hold off investing in new plant until the position on government support is clearer.”
