Britain: Keeping the lights on

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UK Only Article: 
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Britain

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Britain will avoid blackouts, at a cost

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Mark Johnson

Pray for warm weather in 2015. For years Ofgem, Britain’s energy regulator, has warned that Britain is running out of power. Towards the end of 2015 the margin between average peak electricity demand and available supply will fall as low as 2%—down from 14% in 2012, and less than half the 5% buffer that many eggheads think is an acceptable minimum. A shortage of spare capacity multiplies the risk that lights will go out during a cold snap or if a big power station breaks down. If nothing is done about it, the chance of blackouts could reach one in four.
The problem has been a long time coming. Copious supplies of cheap coal have encouraged Britain’s coal-fired power stations to burn through most of the operating hours left to them under a European regulation that limits the life of the dirtiest kinds of plant. Many will soon shut down. Yet many costlier gas-fired power stations have been closed or mothballed—and uncertainty caused by a …

Source: Utilities