The energy thread

[Jimbuna]

Oil price collapse: Saudis, Russians rush to market’s rescue, 2 weeks early

Investing.com -- There are another two weeks to go for the OPEC+ meeting, but the Saudis and Russians have decided not to sit back and let the market collapse continue.

In an urgent response to a Wall Street Journal story on Monday, Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman denied that the 23-nation oil producing alliance under his charge was working on a production hike of 500,000 barrels per day to announce at OPEC+’s Dec. 4 meeting.

If the WSJ report had been true, it would have been a pivot to the 2-million-barrel per day cut that OPEC+ had announced for November. It would have been a hike small in barrels, yet huge in goodwill, doing wonders for Saudi-U.S. relations but, unfortunately, further hammering already free-falling crude prices.

Both New York-traded West Texas Intermediate crude, or WTI, the benchmark for U.S. crude, and London's Brent, the global gauge for oil, hit their lowest since the beginning of the year in Monday’s early trading, partly based on the WSJ story.

But the report wasn’t true, Saudi energy minister Abdulaziz said in a statement issued by state news agency SPA.

“It is well-known that OPEC+ does not discuss any decisions ahead of the meeting," Abdulaziz said, referring to the Dec. 4 meeting.

He added: “The current cut of 2 million barrels per day by OPEC+ continues until the end of 2023 and if there is a need to take further measures by reducing production to balance supply and demand we always remain ready to intervene.”

And just like on cue, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, Abdulaziz’s closest non-Gulf ally in OPEC+, came in with his own responses to the upcoming Dec. 5 decision by Western nations on a prospective import ban and price cap on Russian oil.

Novak reiterated Russia’s stand of not selling its oil to nations that would participate in the price-cap, a plan devised by the West to limit the funding that Moscow could put in its war against Ukraine. The Russian deputy premier also said something else that helped crude prices go back into the positive for the day: in the event of an oil price cap, Russia may also reduce oil production.

“Lower supply will be the result from a price cap on Russian oil,” Novak added.

WTI, which hit a session low of $75.30 on Monday, marking a bottom since January, recovered most of its losses by midday, responding to the remarks by Abdulaziz and Novak. By 14:12 ET (19:12 GMT), the U.S. crude benchmark was at $79.92, down 24 cents, or 0.2%. WTI settled at $79.73 a barrel, down 35 cents, 0.44%.

Brent sank to $82.36 earlier, its lowest since February, before recovering to $87.33, down 29 cents, or 0.3%, on the day.

“It’s interesting the coordinated response we’ve got from the Saudis and the Russians in denying the WSJ report and putting a floor under the oil selloff,” said John Kilduff, founding partner at New York energy hedge fund Again Capital. “There’s another two weeks to the OPEC+ meeting and they’ve too much at risk on the price front if they keep mum till then.”

Crude prices also entered briefly on Friday into a “contango” mode — a market structure that defines weakness — for the first time since 2021. Under this dynamic, the front-month oil contract in the futures market trades at a discount to the nearby month. While the difference itself might be small, it forces buyers wishing to hold a position in oil at the time of contract expiry to pay more to switch to a new front-month contract.

With such negativity in crude now, all eyes are on what the OPEC+ alliance of oil producers will do when it meets on Dec. 4.

OPEC+ — the alliance that bands OPEC, or the 13-member Saudi-led Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, with 10 other oil producers steered by Russia — agreed at its prior meeting to slash production by 2 million barrels per day in order to boost Brent and U.S. crude prices that had fallen sharply from March highs.

Right after that OPEC+ decision, Brent went from a low of around $82 a barrel to almost $100 within days (it had hit almost $140 earlier in March). WTI rose from $76 to $96 (WTI was at just over $130 in March). Both benchmarks have lost all those gains in the past two weeks, raising questions on whether OPEC+ will go for even more cuts to prop the market up again.

Abdulaziz’s remarks on Monday signaled the likelihood of further cuts, especially when he said the alliance will be “ready to intervene” if there’s a need to “take further measures by reducing production to balance supply and demand”.

OPEC+’s 2-million-barrel cut itself has not sat well with the United States.

Saudi-U.S. relations have hit a low point over oil-production disagreements this year, though WSJ reported on Monday that U.S. officials had been looking to the Dec. 4 OPEC+ meeting with some hope.

Talk of a production increase emerged after the Biden administration told a federal court judge that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman should have sovereign immunity from a U.S. federal lawsuit related to the brutal killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The immunity decision amounted to a concession to Mohammed, bolstering his standing as the kingdom’s de facto ruler after the Biden administration tried for months to isolate him.

The WSJ acknowledged in its report that it would be an unusual time for OPEC+ to consider a production increase, with global oil prices falling more than 10% since the first week of November itself on a rash of Covid headlines out of China.

Rising coronavirus cases in China invited new lockdown measures in some of the country’s biggest cities, drumming up concerns over slowing crude demand in the world’s largest oil importer. The country is currently struggling with its worst COVID outbreak since April, which had seen several cities placed under lockdown. A report earlier this month said that several Chinese refiners asked Saudi Aramco (TADAWUL:2222) to supply lower amounts of oil in December, which could point to slowing oil shipments to the country. China has also ramped up its refined fuel export quotas, potentially indicating a surplus in crude stockpiles due to waning demand.

Even so, some delegates to the OPEC+ apparently told WSJ that a production increase could take place in December in response to expectations that oil consumption typically rises in the winter. Oil demand is expected to increase by 1.69 million barrels a day to 101.3 million barrels a day by the first quarter next year, compared with the average level in 2022.

Saudi energy minister Abdulaziz has also said in the past the kingdom would supply oil to ‘all who need it.’
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/othe...6b21b2d78671df

[Skybird]

Focus:
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Blackout fear - first country plans driving bans for electric cars

Switzerland is very worried about a blackout in winter and is preparing radical austerity measures in case of shortages. These include driving bans for electric cars. There could also be restrictions in Germany - first on charging.

Thanks to hydropower, Switzerland has one of the most environmentally friendly power supplies in Europe. But now the Alpine republic fears a blackout. "In winter, the country imports large amounts of electricity. In 2021, it was 5.7 billion kilowatt hours, which came mainly from France and Germany," reports the tech portal "Golem" . In other words, without French nuclear power plants or the occasional German wind energy surplus, the lights would probably go out in Switzerland.
Switzerland plans driving bans for electric cars

But because France and Germany are also highly uncertain cantonists this winter - France because of many outages at nuclear power plants, Germany because of the unpredictable random power from wind and solar energy, coupled with poor solar output in winter and the acute shortage of gas - Switzerland is now reckoning with a high risk of blackout.

A Nov. 23 draft by the Swiss Confederation, titled "Ordinance on Restrictions and Prohibitions on the Use of Electrical Energy," outlines drastic measures that could be taken as part of four escalation levels in the event of an energy shortage. For example, there are stipulations that washing machines must not run at more than 40 degrees Celsius. Refrigerators may not be cooled below 6 degrees. Anything that only serves to provide comfort - such as saunas and steam baths - may then only be used to a limited extent in one's own home.

In addition to extensive rules on the operation of electrical appliances in commercial and private areas, the list of bans also includes piquant restrictions on car traffic. On the one hand, the speed limit on Swiss highways is to be lowered from 120 km/h to 100 km/h. On the other hand, the speed limit on Swiss highways is to be reduced from 120 km/h to 100 km/h. But it will be really tough for drivers of electric cars: they would be banned from driving in the event of a power shortage . Literally, the draft says: " The private use of electric cars is only allowed for absolutely necessary journeys (e.g. professional practice, shopping, doctor's visits, attendance of religious events, perception of court appointments). "

In Switzerland, according to various media reports, this would affect around 110,000 drivers after all - and would of course be absolutely fatal for the politically pushed ramp-up of e-mobility in Switzerland as well: who would still buy an electric car if they had to reckon with not being allowed to drive it at any time, especially in winter? Admittedly, the plan assures that the driving bans will only take place from the third of four "escalation levels". Nevertheless, Swiss citizens must probably be advised to buy an electric car only as a second car, if at all.

In an interview with the tabloid "Blick", the Swiss car importers' association "Auto Schweiz" has confirmed that it will fight against any electric driving ban in the voting process on the planned regulations announced for December. The electricity demand of e-cars in Switzerland in 2021 was just 0.4 percent of the total demand, said Auto Schweiz CEO Andreas Burgener to the "Blick".

FOCUS Online has asked the German ministries for transport and for the economy whether driving bans for e-cars could also come in this country. A response from the ministries is still pending.

It has long been clear that there could also be considerable restrictions on e-cars in Germany in the future - for example, with regard to charging. Because if the load expansion happens faster than the grid expansion, then "grid-serving charging" must be used. In other words, charging will not necessarily take place when the driver needs it, but when sufficient power is available ( read more here ).

Battery cars usually charge at home in the garage. They draw considerably more power than a household appliance at special wallboxes with 3.4, 7.4, 11 or a maximum of 22 kilowatts of charging power. The limiting factor here is not only the home grid, but also the car's integrated charger; often the available charging power of the box cannot be utilized at all.

FOCUS Online asked the experts from the German Association for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies (VDE). In fact, Germany faces major challenges if e-mobility is to ramp up smoothly:

According to the VDE, the electricity demand of an average household with four people is currently a maximum of 4 kW, which is called up at the same time. In the future, however, experts expect an additional demand of 10 to 14 kW - due to solar systems, heat pumps, storage batteries and wallboxes for e-cars.


Initially, this is not a problem because the low-voltage grid still has reserves.

In addition, it depends on when the grid is confronted with many new power consumers: "Whether and when the grid is overloaded also depends on the simultaneity factor, i.e. whether all vehicles charge at the same time or rather sequentially. Fan heaters will have a very high simultaneity due to the weather. This is less pronounced with e-mobility. In addition, there is a notification requirement for charging facilities or, in the case of higher outputs, approval must be obtained from the responsible distribution network operator. This makes e-mobility much more transparent for distribution network operators than direct heating systems such as fan heaters ", experts from the Network Technology/Network Operations Forum at VDE told FOCUS Online.

The VDE explains what the prerequisite for "grid-serving charging" is: a temporary shifting of loads by intelligent metering systems (iMSys). The electric car wallbox in the garage at home thus communicates with the grid operator so that the latter has an overview of the current charging situation and can intervene in an emergency. "The alternative would be to allocate network connections for wallboxes on a first come, first serve basis or to temporarily shut down individual network strings in overload situations," say the network experts.

Even if there are no concrete plans as yet, as in Switzerland, owners of e-cars in Germany must therefore also be prepared for the fact that they will not be able to use their vehicle in the same way as a gasoline or diesel engine if energy is once again in short supply. This is no great consolation for drivers of combustion engines, however, as fuel prices are expected to rise again soon.

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No comment.

[Jimbuna]

British Gas has announced a plan to reward customers who reduce their energy usage at peak times.

The energy company said consumers could earn £4 per day for every unit they reduce.

Households with smart meters are set to receive emails in the coming days to inform them about the details of the scheme.

It is hoped that the flexibility scheme could attract 100,000 customers who could take measures to take pressure off the grid.

Chris O’Shea, Centrica Group Chief Executive, said: “The electricity grid is facing increased pressure and smart technology plays a key role in managing a peak demand – reducing consumption has the added benefit of helping consumers save on their energy bills.”

In the last couple of weeks, many suppliers, including Octopus, E.ON, Shell Energy and OVO, joined National Grid’s Demand Flexibility Service.

[Skybird]

Deutsche Welle (German edition)
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Asians compete with Europe for liquefied natural gas from Qatar

China does not mind long-term supply contracts for the import of climate-damaging natural gas. That's why it made a move on Qatar, which prefers just such contracts.

In the search for secure energy supplies in uncertain times, liquefied natural gas (LNG) is becoming increasingly interesting for many buyers. Especially for European consumers, who are painfully aware of their dependence on pipelines from Russia and want to become independent of it. But China is also betting on LNG: State-owned Qatar Energy announced the signing of a long-term gas supply contract with China. The emirate will supply four million tons of liquefied natural gas annually to the People's Republic. The contract runs for 27 years and is based on a so-called "ex-ship basis." This means that Qatar Energy will handle the shipping and delivery of the liquefied gas.

In addition, the Chinese group Sinopec is to take a share in the southern part of the North Field natural gas deposit. Western energy companies Shell, TotalEnergies and ConocoPhillips so far hold a 25 percent share in it.

Germany wants to end its dependence on Russia by importing LNG, among other things, and is expanding its LNG infrastructure at a rapid pace. Qatar is being discussed as a major supplier to export LNG. German Economics Minister Robert Habeck had already traveled to Qatar in March and agreed on an "energy partnership" with the emirate. However, a concrete agreement on the supply of LNG has not yet been reached. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz now said in an interview with Focus magazine that German companies are in Qatar "in very concrete talks, which I could tell you more about than I will." That the planned LNG deal had not worked out "is not so true," Scholz said, according to dpa.

China, in any case, got its way. In the deal with Qatar, Beijing followed a simple principle, said Johann Fuhrmann, head of the Beijing office of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. "China does what benefits China, and if it hurts the Europeans, it accepts that."

In fact, the deal is very attractive from Beijing's perspective, Fuhrmann said. Until now, China has imported most of its liquefied natural gas from the United States and Australia, he said. "Now you can diversify these imports." This also makes the country less dependent on imports from Russia, he said. All of this, he said, is also happening against the backdrop of last summer's major drought, during which there were enormous power outages. "That's another reason why Beijing is naturally focusing on getting energy from other sources."

For Qatar, the contract terms would have played a role first and foremost, Fuhrmann says. He points out that Germany had only wanted to sign a contract for a maximum of five years. "The Qataris probably didn't see that as a worthwhile deal. After all, they have to expand the tanker fleet and gas production, as well as invest further in liquefaction technology. That would cost Qatar around $45 billion. That's why they prefer to rely on long-term partnerships."

And it is precisely these that Germany and other European countries do not want to enter into, says energy expert Heiko Lohmann, editor-in-chief of the trade magazine "energate Gasmarkt." It is true that Qatar will significantly expand production from 2026 onward. However, exports would mainly go to Asia. "The fundamental problem is that in Europe, unlike in China, people don't want to buy gas over a 27-year period. Because most politicians are absolutely correct ["Absolutely correct? They'll be surprised."; Skybird] in assuming that gas has no future over such a long period."

But Lohmann adds something else: Qatar wants to give its buyers as little flexibility as possible. "That creates an additional problem. Because if the Europeans sign a contract for 20 years, but only use gas for 15 years, they would like to sell the rest elsewhere if possible. But if the terms of the contract make that difficult, then of course it's even more difficult for buyers to enter into such contracts."

Indeed, the market for LNG is likely to be tight in the future. The Japanese Ministry of Trade, for example, warned recently that global competition for liquefied natural gas will intensify over the next three years. The main reason for this is that too little is being invested in supply. Long-term LNG contracts starting before 2026 are already sold out, according to the Commerce Department.

For importers, this means that they have to rely more on the so-called spot market, where the price is determined via trading platforms and is therefore correspondingly volatile. On the spot market, LNG is currently traded at almost three times the price of long-term contracts. According to the International Group of LNG Importers, around 30 percent of all LNG deliveries were made on the spot market last year.

According to financial services group SP GLOBAL, Europe (including the UK and Turkey) imported nearly 95 million tons of LNG during the first three quarters of the current year. This represented just under a third of global LNG imports, compared with just under a fifth in the same period last year. At the same time, Europe's share of spot trading also increased. Europe has a one-third share in this trade. In the previous year, this share was just under 13 percent.

At present, however, the supply situation in Europe is stable, says Heiko Lohmann. This is because the storage facilities are very full and, in addition, it is very warm for the time of year and consumption has fallen significantly, the supply situation is quite good, he says. "If it doesn't get very cold in the winter and the LNG supply doesn't decrease significantly because Asian companies increase their purchases significantly and Europe doesn't want to keep up with that, the supply should work reasonably in the coming winter." The fact that the situation is comparatively relaxed, however, does not mean that the price situation is as well. This can be extremely burdensome for consumers.
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[Skybird]

Got the second raise for electric power this year today, from 32 to 39 cent/KWh today.


Before all this began I paid some low 20s. Including all other according raises (most components for electric energy prices are political fees over here) costs short of doubled this year.



In many cities and many individiual cases, the cost raises are much, much higher.



There will be more such raises in the future.



I can afford it, but I am angry at the politicians, for principle reasons. They wallow in their incompetence and reality denial and powerpolitical intrigues, and people like me must pay for their criminal failures. May they be found by fate and given what they deserve. Won't be a pretty sight to see.

[Jimbuna]

The next energy price rise in the UK will be next month.

Like yourself, I can afford it but it still angers me to know that a great many can't through no fault of their own.

[Jimbuna]

Putin's terrifying warning to West as Russia vows to send energy prices soaring again

Moscow has vowed to respond to the West after it floated slapping a price cap on Russian oil, sparking fears that Russian President Vladimir Putin will slash more exports to Europe and send prices soaring further. Amid the war in Ukraine, Europe has been scrambling to wean itself off Russian fossil fuels in a bid to slash the Kremlin's revenue and hamstring its war efforts. But the EU still relies on Russian gas, while several landlocked countries within the bloc are still in need of large volumes of Russian oil sent via pipelines.

Russia's stranglehold on European energy supplies has already proved to be a problem globally, with his invasion of Ukraine triggering supply chain constraints, and in combination with his gas cuts to Europe, the Russian President has energy prices soaring, triggering a global crisis.

Now, the West is seeking to cut off more cash from Putin by implementing a price cap on his oil exports. This has sparked fury in Moscow, which has dubbed the measure a "dangerous" move that it is figuring out how to respond to.

Russian state news agency TASS reported on that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow had already prepared Friday's price cap announcement by the G-7, the EU and Australia.

On Saturday, the Kremlin said a price cap was the "wrong move". Mr Peskov was quoted by RIA saying that "we will not accept this cap" and he warned that Moscow would complete a rapid analysis of the agreement before working out how to respond.

Mikhail Ulyanov, Moscow's ambassador to international organisations in Vienna, said Europe can forget about receiving anymore oil from Russia, despite EU sanctions exempting the most reliant EU nations like Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic from the bloc's Russian oil ban.

Mr Ulyanov tweeted: "Starting from this year Europe will live without Russian oil. Moscow has already made it clear that it will NOT supply oil to those countries who support anti-market price cap. Very soon the EU will blame Russia for using oil as a weapon."

The proposed G7 price cap is set to let non-EU countries to keep on importing seaborne Russian crude oil. Howeer, it will ban shipping, insurance and re-insurance companies from handling cargoes of Russian crude globally, unless it is sold for under $60 (£48).

There are fears that this could complicate the shipment of Russian crude that is more expensive than the determined cap, and possibly to countries that are not part of the agreement.

Russia's embassy in the US has said the cap is a "dangerous" move by the West and won't stop Moscow from finding buyers for its oil.

In comments published on Telegram, the embassy wrote: "Steps like these will inevitably result in increasing uncertainty and imposing higher costs for raw materials' consumers.

"Regardless of the current flirtations with the dangerous and illegitimate instrument, we are confident that Russian oil will continue to be in demand."

However, the EU has already been coping with far fewer Russian oil supplies amid the invasion of Ukraine. Before the war, in 2021, more than half of Russia's oil exports were sent to Europe, according to the International Energy Association. In the bloc, Germany was the main importer, with the Netherlands second and Poland third.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/lifestyle/...bebb4c155174c1

[Skybird]

The chance that this ^will backfire right ionto the Europeans' faces, is indeed very high. For once I have to agree with the German and a few other governments who wanted to prevent this move.


See here: https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/sho...postcount=8555

[Skybird]

Mineral oil companies were not interested in supplying gasoline to Hungary at prices below market value. Many gas stations ran out of gasoline, and queues formed in front of the pumps. Now the state price cap has been lifted in Hungary.


As sign to take note of: regarding the 60 Dollar cap on Russian oil.

[Jimbuna]

On a personal note: Notified by my energy supplier yesterday that my monthly bill will increase on 1st January from £163 to £188 per month.

[mapuc]

One of the problem with producing green electricity have been storing it--They could use huge and lots of them-Batteries.
Now a breakthrough seems to be around the corner

Made from carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen, the molecule is transformed into an “energy-rich isomer”, one made of the same atoms but bound in a different way, when it is hit by sunlight. The isomer can then be stored as a liquid, with the energy being used later. Much later.

https://www.iflscience.com/scientist...18-years-50494

Markus

[Jimbuna]

National Grid will not trigger power blackout prevention scheme on Tuesday

The National Grid will not implement its blackout prevention scheme on Tuesday evening after French energy suppliers said they were struggling to cope with demand.

It was announced on Monday morning that the Demand Flexibility Service (DFS), which is designed to avoid blackouts, may have been brought in for the first time to reduce expected strain on the electricity grid.

The scheme sees households, which are signed up for the initiative, paid to not use things like electric ovens, dishwashers and tumble dryers between certain hours.

It is the first line of defence in the event that peak evening demand exceeds supply over the coming winter.

The DFS has been tested twice.

The UK's power grid usually relies on imports from France over the winter months to make up any shortfalls in electricity output.

However, the French nuclear power industry, which accounts for around 75% of its usual electricity generation, is in turmoil.

More than half of the reactors run by state energy firm EDF have been closed due to maintenance and technical problems.

It is exacerbating the wider energy crisis across Europe as countries face down the colder months.

That is because the continent is without the usual volumes of gas flows from Russia because of Moscow's war in Ukraine.

Octopus Energy is by far the most active energy supplier in the DFS.

It has previously released data showing that its customers had helped reduce demand by more than 100 megawatts during both tests.

Other options available to National Grid for power rationing include asking non-critical factories to shut down.

In the most severe circumstances, planned three-hour rolling blackouts could be imposed if gas-fired power came under pressure and other means of generation failed to make up the balance.

National Grid's Electricity System Operator (ESO) said last month that such a scenario was "unlikely".

Its latest report on the UK's readiness showed, under a base case scenario, that margins between peak demand and power supply were expected to be sufficient, and similar to winters of recent years thanks to secure North Sea gas supplies, imports via Norway and by ship.
https://news.sky.com/story/national-...esday-12757278

[mapuc]

A Major breakthrough will be announced tomorrow

The U.S. Department of Energy and scientists at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are expected to deliver a big announcement related to nuclear fusion. It appears that the NIF has finally created nuclear fusion ignition, producing more energy than is put in by the lasers.

https://www.iflscience.com/major-nuc...tomorrow-66615

Markus

[Jimbuna]

France requests electricity exports to UK are cut as Europe energy crisis deepens

France's electricity network operator RTE reportedly asked the National Grid if it could slash its scheduled exports to Britain in half between 8am and 9am this morning as it struggled to cope with surging demand amid its own power issues. The power output issues were reportedly brought on by a lethal combination of the cold weather, strikes across its nuclear sector and delayed maintenance on its fleet of ageing nuclear reactors.

France's electricity network operator put in the request to the UK as Britain also grappled with its own fears amid the cold snap, which has plunged parts of the UK into freezing sub-zero temperatures as snow fell and caused travel chaos.

Phil Hewitt, a director at EnAppSys, said: "The French market was particularly under stress today. It was always going to be in trouble because of the reduced nuclear reactor fleet, the temperature is low and there has been a big demand spike combined with low wind."

During a normal winter, Britain relies on French energy imports to help meet demand, particularly during peak hours in the early evening. But last week, the experts warned that France could suffer from an energy shortage, raising fears that the nation would have to cut its exports to the UK like it has asked to do today.

Jean-Paul Harreman, Director of EnAppSys BV, told Energy News Live: 'We have been analysing the tightness in markets quite closely over the past months. During the moderate weather, we have already highlighted the risk of a demand spike when temperatures would drop, especially in the period before Christmas, when nuclear capacity was still on its way back up.

"With recent revisions of capacity availability, we highlighted the potential of the market reaching the maximum import levels. Last year, we saw a highest import of 13GW into the French market, but this year there is more than 13GW of additional nuclear capacity offline compared to that period.

"At current demand levels, around 70GW, the available capacity, combined with interconnectors, will be sufficient to satisfy demand. If we get a very cold spell, however, demand could spike up to levels above 90GW. If that happens, there is a significant risk of the market not clearing due to a shortage of supply.

"If the interconnectors are maxed out, it doesn't matter how much surplus capacity and how much gas in storage other countries have, it can't reach the French market."

This comes after National Grid warned that the UK may fail to shore up enough energy imports from Europe this winter and may have to roll out planned blackouts in the coldest winter months to avoid full-blown power outages.

Simon Cran-McGreehin, head of analysis at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, has previously told Express.co.uk that shortages in France make blackouts in the UK "more likely".

He said: "The issues at French nuclear power stations, coupled with the potential shortages of gas for power generation on the continent, do mean that the UK is likely to have more difficulty in securing imports this winter - National Grid has included this scenario in its 'Winter Outlook', as one of the factors that would make power shortages more likely."

And today, National Grid have looked poised to roll out another backup plan amid the cold snap and prospect of slashed exports from France after it ordered two coal units at Drax's power plant in Yorkshire to be put on standby.

It has since cancelled the plan, and said that the notice "should give the public confidence in Monday's energy supply". The network operator was also still encouraging people to continue to use energy "as normal".

While France may have to slash its exports to the UK to avoid its own crisis, Dr Jeff Hardy, Senior Research Fellow at the Grantham Institute, Imperial College London, has said there will come a time when Britain will send the excess energy it does not need across the Channel.

He said: "Interconnection is a good thing as it diversifies our supply, enhancing electricity system resilience. France has been suffering from nuclear power outages, which has led to a tight electricity market in France. Historically, France has supplied the UK with cheap power from its nuclear fleet. Now, it needs help, which is exactly why interconnection is a good thing for European security.

"At the same time, the UK has been rapidly increasing its renewable electricity generation, particularly offshore wind. In the future, this means the UK will be a net exporter of wind power, particularly on windy days when demand is low. This means we will need more interconnectors in the future as there will be days when we need to shed power."
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world...ba23c2e3fbc3c7

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

strikes across its nuclear sector

Strikes...? Like in "workers on strike, refusing to work"...? Or strike like struck by unlucky events, weather?