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**Chris** · Today, 11:18

This is nothing new to those of us who spend too much time on Xitter …

Those in the know have been concerned for a couple of years now, how little reserve capacity there is in this country for electricity generation. A super-cold snap, or a cyber attack, could take enough generation offline to destabilise the grid. A grid collapse isn’t like a localised power cut, and it takes time and effort to get it running again. While it’s off, you’re looking at an extremely widespread power outage lasting several days. The clue in the BBC article is buried way down in paragraph 13. There is no *specific* threat to the grid, but any number of things now have the capability to bring it down. And that’s why they have been drip-feeding these resilience stories into the media for months.

---------- Post added at 11:18 ---------- Previous post was at 11:06 ----------

A couple of additional observations - the annual NESO Winter Outlook report makes it look like our reserve is rosy, but the methodology has changed this year and the output figure went up (surprise surprise). Further, we now rely on interconnectors for up to 10% of our power use. These are undersea cables that are vulnerable.

Today, 11:18	#7
Chris Trollsplatter Cable Forum Team Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: North of Watford Services: Humane elimination of all common Internet pests Posts: 38,603	Re: The Black Sky Event Plan This is nothing new to those of us who spend too much time on Xitter … Those in the know have been concerned for a couple of years now, how little reserve capacity there is in this country for electricity generation. A super-cold snap, or a cyber attack, could take enough generation offline to destabilise the grid. A grid collapse isn’t like a localised power cut, and it takes time and effort to get it running again. While it’s off, you’re looking at an extremely widespread power outage lasting several days. The clue in the BBC article is buried way down in paragraph 13. There is no specific threat to the grid, but any number of things now have the capability to bring it down. And that’s why they have been drip-feeding these resilience stories into the media for months. ---------- Post added at 11:18 ---------- Previous post was at 11:06 ---------- A couple of additional observations - the annual NESO Winter Outlook report makes it look like our reserve is rosy, but the methodology has changed this year and the output figure went up (surprise surprise). Further, we now rely on interconnectors for up to 10% of our power use. These are undersea cables that are vulnerable.