Breakdowns at “multiple” power stations have forced National Grid to issue an alert requesting more plants start generating electricity to help keep the lights on on Wednesday afternoon.
The Grid issued a “Notification of Inadequate System Margin” (NISM) at 1.30pm, asking for “more generation to be brought onto the system”. It is the first time it has issued such an alert since 2012.
The company said it wanted an additional 500 megawatts between 4.30pm and 6.30pm this evening.
“This is part of our standard toolkit for balancing supply and demand and is not an indication there is an immediate risk of disruption to supply or blackouts,” a spokesman said.
“It indicates that we would like our power held in reserve to be higher.”
National Grid has already been granted extra emergency powers to help keep the lights on this winter as the risk of blackouts increases.