Energy intensive industries like steel, chemicals, paper, glass, cement, ceramics and industrial gases need access to secure, competitively priced electricity supplies if they are to carry on investing and providing employment in the UK. To the extent that these industries have flexibility to reduce their electricity demand during peak winter evenings, they will do what they can to help balance the system for the benefit of others, provided they are fairly compensated for the considerable cost this imposes on their business.
National Grid’s analysis confirms that electricity supply margins are set to become worryingly tight during the next few winters as older power stations are retired. So National Grid is right to see what additional demand response can be made available to ensure consumers are not left at risk of blackouts.
However, as EIUG has warned for many years, the reason we are facing this situation is because of the flawed energy policy followed by successive governments, overly focussed on costly intermittent renewables like wind and solar, which are inherently incapable of providing secure electricity supplies. The government has realised the urgent need to enable investment in secure generating capacity from nuclear and gas-fired power stations, but slow progress means this investment will arrive later than needed, leaving consumers at unacceptable risk of price spikes and blackouts, and jeopardising the investment in manufacturing industries needed to sustain the economy recovery.
For further information please contact – Jeremy Nicholson, Mobile: 07785 280568, e-mail: jnicholson@eef.org.uk
EIUG represents the UK’s energy intensive industries that dependent on secure, internationally competitive energy supplies to remain in business, including manufacturers of steel, chemicals, paper, glass, cement, lime, ceramics, aluminium and industrial gases.
- Energy intensive industries employ 225,000 workers directly, support more than 800,000 jobs including their supply chains, and contribute over 15bn to UK GDP (http://www.tuc.org.uk/sites/default/files/tucfiles/buildingourlowcarboninds.pdf)
- Energy-intensive industries employ 225,000 workers directly, support more than 800,000 jobs including their supply chains and contribute over 15bn to UK GDP. (http://www.tuc.org.uk/sites/default/files/tucfiles/buildingourlowcarboninds.pdf)