Undersea Cable Failure Sends Electricity Prices Soaring
Sat 7:53 pm +01:00, 18 Sep 2021 1
Power prices soar after key electricity cable between UK and France catches fire
British electricity prices jumped by 19 per cent to £475 per megawatt hour on Wednesday.
A key electricity cable between Britain and France has been shut down after a fire, sending wholesale prices soaring.
The fire will reduce imports from France until the end of March 2022, the National Grid has warned.
They said the blaze broke out on Wednesday while planned maintenance was taking place at the site near Ashford in Kent.
Prices of natural gas, which have already been at record highs in recent weeks, soared more than 18 per cent at the news.
British electricity prices meanwhile jumped by 19 per cent to £475 per megawatt hour on Wednesday.
The IFA1 interconnector had been used to import electricity, generated largely by nuclear power, from France.
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Glenn Rickson, head of European power analysis at S&P Global Platts Analytics, said the fire “couldn’t come at a worse time for the UK”.
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Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/business/energy-prices-france-uk-fire-b1921154.html
This new PR and energy supply disaster comes hot on the heels of recent claims that Britain withdrew hardline climate demands in the free trade agreement being negotiated with Australia.
What can I say BoJo – despite your harsh words and attempted bullying, Australia stands ready to deliver all the coal you need for Britain to stay warm and keep the lights on this winter.
Or you can do what China allegedly does, since they tried to punish Australia by blocking some of our imports – covertly buy Aussie coal through secondary markets, to avoid the embarrassment and loss of face of admitting you can’t live without our coal exports. I hear Singapore provides a discreet service and reasonable fees. If you pay a little extra, they might even relabel the coal shipments as “wood chips”.
BoJo, you better get your order in quickly. Goldman Sachs just forecast an imminent global coal supply crunch which could almost double already sky high current world prices.
On a serious note, my heart goes out to Britons who will be caught by skyrocketing energy prices. But there is still time to avert the worst of this crisis. Write to your MP and demand they produce a rational plan for maintaining reliable and affordable electricity supplies this winter.
Wow, how absolutely convenient for the PTB, and right at the start of winter, which no doubt will be a very cold one. It’s almost as if God was on their side. Bring out your dead. Power outages could easily follow, or even Cyber attacks. Just as well Santa Claus Schwab warned us of such things.