The forecast for gas demand today (Monday 20 December) shows that a new record remains a possibility. The latest update issued at 17:00 for Britain to consume 468.0 million cubic metres (mcm) of gas across Monday. The record of 465.5 mcm was set on 8 January 2010.
Demand tomorrow (Tuesday 21 December) is forecast to fall to 458.7 mcm. Supplies remain strong, but as this is still above the current trigger level of 452.4 mcm, National Grid has issued another Gas Balancing Alert for the day ahead – the seventh since the tool was introduced in 2005. The Gas Balancing Alert is a routine market tool issued at times of high demand or, which is not the case today, when there has been a significant supply loss. The notice helps the market make the right decisions to balance supply and demand, for example by making additional supplies available or reducing demand such as by switching electricity generation from gas to other fuels.
Forecasts for electricity demand continue to remain below the levels seen earlier this December, with a healthy amount of generation available.
Demand for gas and electricity is expected to fall further from the middle of the week as the usual drop in usage over the Christmas holidays begins.
The comment from Chris Train, National Grid’s Network Operations Director, issued this morning still stands:
“Increased demand for energy is an inevitable consequence of the cold weather as Britain shivers. However, we remain well supplied with gas and electricity, thanks to strong availability from a diverse range of sources.
“A Gas Balancing Alert is a routine market tool and should not be a cause for concern. Although there is never room for complacency, we are not seeing anything that would prevent the market from continuing to balance supply and demand across the winter.”
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