British Gas owner Centrica has warned that the UK’s gas storage has hit “concerningly low levels” with less than a week’s worth of demand left in store.
Centrica put the shortage down to the recent freezing temperatures that have led to higher demand on the UK’s gas network. Gas levels are currently lower than usual due to a combination of the cold weather and the end of Russian gas pipeline supplies through Ukraine, according to the company.
Centrica said that UK gas storage sites are holding 26 per cent less than they did this time last year, leaving them around half full. This means the UK has “less than a week of gas demand in store”, Centrica warned. The government has addressed the concerns, insisting the UK will be able to meet demand through the winter.
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Chris O’Shea, group chief executive of Centrica said: “The UK’s gas storage levels are concerningly low. 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.”
Other countries are facing similar shortages, according to Centrica, with European storage at 69 per cent capacity, down from 84 per cent at the same time the previous year. However, the UK’s total gas storage capacity is around 10 per cent or less than in France, Germany or the Netherlands.
Mr O’Shea 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. Like any insurance policy, it may not always be needed, but having more capacity helps protect against worst-case scenarios.”
No 10 said in a statement: “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 payers and boost our energy independence.”
A spokesperson for No 10 told the PA agency that reports that the UK has been on the verge of an energy blackout are “not true”.
It comes as the UK recorded its coldest night of this winter so far on Thursday, with another sub-zero night expected on Friday. In Altnaharra, a hamlet in Sutherland, the most northern region of the Highlands, overnight temperatures dropped to -14.5C overnight into Friday.
Friday night is predicted to bring the lowest temperatures of the cold snap in parts of Scotland and northern England, with temperatures between minus 15C and -20C possible, the Met Office said.
Oli Claydon, a spokesperson for the Met Office, said: “It will be another cold night tonight with temperatures as low as minus 15C again in the Scottish highlands. There’s a chance we could even see the coldest night of winter again. We’re expecting to see frost in parts of the south west and Wales. Northern Ireland will be cold again but not as cold as Thursday night.
“But that will be the last of the really low temperatures, with milder weather coming in during the weekend. This will spread from the north down to the south and it could be Monday or Tuesday before the south west starts to feel the milder temperatures.”