Leadsom sets out scope of power cut inquiry

Energy secretary Andrea Leadsom has set out the scope of the investigation into last week’s power cut.

She stressed that the review being undertaken by the Energy Emergencies Executive Committee (EC3) would not consider whether National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) met its responsibilities under the Grid Code, as this will be considered separately by Ofgem.

The probe will look at both the secondary and direct impact of Friday’s blackout, to identify areas of improvement and best practice.

It will also consider the use of ‘low frequency demand disconnection’ (LFDD) or ‘load shedding’ – the act of tripping out blocks of demand in order to restore system frequency.

The review will also make recommendations for essential service resilience to power disruptions and consider the best approach to communications during a power cut.

EC3, a partnership between government, the regulator and industry, met for the first time on Monday (12 August) and will provide a report on initial findings within five weeks. It will then submit a comprehensive report within 12 weeks.

Leadsom said: “Friday’s power outages caused significant chaos and disruption to hundreds of thousands of people. National Grid is urgently reviewing what happened and will shortly report to Ofgem to consider what action may need to be taken.

“National Grid has already confirmed that the incident was not linked to the variability of wind power, a clean, renewable energy source that the government is investing in as we work towards becoming a net zero emissions economy by 2050. Friday’s incident does however demonstrate the need to have a diverse energy mix.

“I have formally commissioned the government’s Energy Emergencies Executive Committee to review the emergency response and recovery procedures for our energy system.”