Under the government’s latest “reasonable worst-case scenario,” some industries and even households could have their electricity supplies temporarily suspended for several days.
The scenario has been updated due to concerns that the UK could face an energy shortfall amounting to up to a sixth of peak demand. For the plan to be instigated, a confluence of factors would need to occur simultaneously including below-average temperatures coupled with reduced electricity imports from Norway and France.
But it could see Britain exposed to four days in January when it may need to trigger emergency measures to conserve gas.
The UK has already delayed the closure of coal plants in order to bolster energy supplies, although ministers were warned in May that millions of UK households could still face blackouts despite the measures.
Ofgem also recently moved to updating the energy price cap quarterly, rather than every six months, which will see consumers face extremely...