National Grid is investigating whether a boat’s anchor is to blame for knocking out half the capacity from a crucial power link beneath the English Channel — threatening further increases to electricity prices in the UK this winter, report the Financial Times.
Four of eight cables running along the seabed between Folkestone and Calais were damaged during Storm Angus — the first named storm of the season — earlier this month.
National Grid, the UK’s electricity system operator, said on Tuesday that the interconnector, which gives the UK access to French power and vice versa, would operate at half its 2 gigawatt capacity until the end of February.
The reduced output — equivalent to the loss of one nuclear reactor — will increase the strain on Britain’s power system at a time of tight supplies and rising prices heading into the cold winter months.
People briefed on the matter said National Grid was looking at whether the damage was caused by a boat dropping anchor during Storm Angus and snagging the cables.
Such events are highly unusual because undersea cables are partially buried in the seabed, but the incident will raise questions over the reliability of electricity interconnectors with continental Europe and Ireland, which typically account for about 7 per cent of UK power supplies.
National Grid, which owns the cross-Channel interconnector together with its French counterpart RTE, said it remained confident of having enough electricity available this winter to meet demand despite the cable damage.