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Energy Managers Association (EMA) chief executive Lord Redesdale has warned there is an 80 per cent chance of blackouts next winter in the UK.
At a roundtable debate held in London today (January 26), Redesdale claimed that short-term blackouts had already happened and that no adequate solutions were planned for the next ten years.
Redesdale said: “It is not a bet about whether there is going to be a blackout or not – it is going to happen. What we are actually talking about is the first blackout [that] will be the signal that something is fundamentally wrong with the whole of the energy market.”
Redesdale suggested that the government look into energy storage as a solution, adding that he can see “prices going up quite considerably”.
Speaking at the same event, head of energy markets for Utilitywise Jon Ferris agreed that prices were likely to rise and admitted he was changing his stance, having “consistently dismissed reports of potential blackouts over the last few years”. Ferris now believes: “We are at the gravest risk of a blackout… in ten years”.
Ferris said there was a five per cent chance of blackouts next winter, dependent on whether we “get a high pressure system developing in December”.
Lord Redesdale added: “What worries me more than anything is that politicians, the grid and other organisations turn around and say it’s absolutely fine, ‘we won’t get blackouts for the next six months,’ but when you start talking about a year ahead they seem to have the blinkers on.”
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