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Increased investment in flood defences paid off for National Grid in recent bad weather, according to an interim management statement on Thursday.
Extra flood protection installed at critical UK sites over the past few years “has helped to minimise any cost or reliability impact on National Grid’s operations,” the company said.
On the company’s US networks, 150,000 customers were cut off as a result of the “polar vortex” ice storm in December. Despite that, National Grid said disruption and costs related to extreme weather have been “much lower” than in the previous two years.
Across both patches, the company expects to invest around £3.5 billion by the end of 2013/14.
As UK transmission network operator, National Grid said its expectations of electricity generation to be connected and disconnected in the next 12 months were “largely unchanged” since the last update.
That statement comes amid speculation an impending capacity squeeze could be exacerbated by the closure of Eggborough Power Station, announced in December after its coal-to-biomass conversion failed to secure early approval for subsidies.
National Grid is developing new balancing services to help manage a tightening capacity margin, which by some projections will fall as low as 3 per cent next winter.
Steve Holliday, chief executive, said: “Our businesses made further progress through to the end of January toward achieving our priorities for the year. We are investing in our networks for the benefit of customers and maintaining a strong focus on efficiency and incentive performance.
“Our networks performed well, demonstrating strong resilience during some difficult weather conditions in both the US and UK. I believe that this shows the benefits of our investment in process development and infrastructure and the continued dedication of our front line colleagues.
“We reconfirm our positive outlook for 2013/14 – overall, we are well positioned to deliver another year of good operating performance and sustainable dividend growth.”
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