Britain has just one week of gas left, warns biggest supplier with levels ‘concerningly low’ due to cold & high prices
BRITAIN has just one week of gas demand left and levels drop "concerningly low", warned the UK's biggest supplier.
Centrica warned the "perfect storm" of sub-zero figures, high gas prices and increased demand have left gas storage dwindling.
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"We are an outlier from the rest of Europe when it comes to the role of storage in our energy system and we are now seeing the implications of that.”
He added: "Energy storage is what keeps the lights on and homes warm when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow, so investing in our storage capacity makes perfect economic sense.
"We need to think of storage as a very valuable insurance policy."
Centrica revealed gas storage was already lower than usual due to temperature plummeting quicker than average this December.
Other Europe-based companies are reportedly feeling the same squeeze heading into the new year.
By January 7 last year, European storage was only reaching 69 percent capacity, as opposed to 84 per cent the previous year.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR HOUSEHOLDS?
THE SUN'S Head of Consumer, Tara Evans, explains:
Yesterday, we reported how Britain came shockingly close to issuing a blackout warning on Wednesday as wind power plunged in freezing weather.
Now today, Centrica, has warned that gas storage levels are "concerningly low".
The boss of British Gas runs the UK's biggest gas storage site.
But there is no cause for concern for households.
The government said today that it is confident that the UK has enough natural gas supplies to make it through the winter.
The UK is heavily reliant on gas supplies to power gas and electricity to homes.
However, even if reserves do run low there are several buffers in place to protect households.
If the National Energy System Operator (NESO) issues a warning to suppliers that there is low supply, it does not mean there is an imminent risk to household energy supplies.
First the energy market would be asked for more energy.
Then NESO could ask businesses to reduce energy usage and could be paid to do so.
Meanwhile, Rough, the country’s largest gas storage site is 20 per cent lower than at the same time last year.
Rough has supplied almost 420 million cubic meters (mcm) through the winter which is equivalent to heating three million homes every day.
The UK’s total gas storage capacity is around 10 per cent or less than in France, Germany, or the Netherlands, according to Centrica.
A No10 spokesperson said: "We are confident we will have a sufficient gas supply and electricity capacity to meet demand this winter due to our diverse and resilient energy system.
"We speak regularly with the national energy system operator to monitor our energy security and ensure they have all tools at their disposal if needed to secure our supply.
"Our mission to deliver clean power by 2030 will replace our dependency on unstable fossil fuel markets with clean homegrown power controlled in Britain, which is the best way to protect bill per payers and boost our energy independence."
Chris O’Shea further explained how Centrica are ready to invest an eye-watering £2billion into boosting their Rough storage facility.
The Group CEO said the company need the cap and floor model announced for long duration energy storage for Rough.
"With that, we can create thousands of new jobs in construction and safeguard a vital national asset," he continued.
"Without that, UK consumers will continue to have higher energy bills than is necessary.”
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Research carried out by Centrica and FTI suggest Rough could have saved consumers up to £5.2bn over the past two winters.
And, it could save consumers £1billion a year or more by 2050 if converted to hydrogen storage.