Lots of gas was drawn out of storage in the past two days. The previous lowest storage level on record was 17 March 2010, when we had a total of 4,932GWh, split as Long Range Storage (LRS) 2959, Medium Range Storage (MRS) 1357, Short Range Storage (SRS) 616
The 4pm update on 28 March 2013 showed 3,399GWh in storage, split as LRS 1150, MRS 2200, SRS 49, so that's a new record low.
Also, by 28 March 2010, over 3,200GWh had already been reinjected to stores after the low, whereas this year it looks like we won't be putting much back in through the whole of April...
Even if we scrape through the remainder of this winter, we are not in a good position already for next winter...
Get the latest data here: http://marketinformation.natgrid.co.uk/gas/frmPrevalingView.aspx
Hi Mike
ReplyDeleteI like your commentary over the last few days and appreciate the detail. We had the stark headlines then all went quite in the press, but I'm glad to find someone is tracking it.
Is there any chance that this pump failure could have been planned to increase profits? It's just that you would expect there to be back-up pumps and a thorough maintenance schedule for such crucial equipment.
It is difficult to see how there won't be blackouts sooner than we would like to think. How do you think the government will respond to this months close shave?
Are you aware that emergency generator capacity in hospitals and the like, is being bought up to cover peak electricity demand? See http://www.flexitricity.com/key-technologies
In my mind this reduces our resilience. I have written more about this on my blog at http://rationthefuture.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/energy-security-did-anyone-hear-about.html
Judy
Hi Judy. It certainly was inconvenient timing to have it break then... But I expect it's just machinery breaking when under stress. I'd heard about the demand response stuff through work, it serves a useful purpose, but as you say, could weaken our resilience...
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