UK blackout fears mean power stations could be allowed to breach air pollution limits

This has raised fears of energy shortages in the UK as Paris could decide to send less electricity to Britain via interconnections linking the two nations. This is despite Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron agreeing to cooperate on nuclear energy in efforts to avoid energy shortages this winter. 

Dr Paul Dorfman, an associate fellow from the Science Policy Research Unit at the University of Sussex told Express.co.uk: “Despite the friendly rhetoric between Sunak and Macron, trying to keep the lights on in Paris, while coping with the broken French nuclear fleet, will take precedence over power supply to the UK – and will mean UK blackouts are much more likely.”

Nuclear energy usually generates 70 percent of the country’s electricity, but after several EDF reactors were taken offline, there have been serious concerns over Paris’ ability to avoid its own blackouts. 

Simon Cran-McGreehin, head of analysis at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, told Express.co.uk: “The issues at French nuclear power stations, coupled with the potential shortages of gas for power generation on the continent, do mean that the UK is likely to have more difficulty in securing imports this winter – National Grid has included this scenario in its Winter Outlook, as one of the factors that would make power shortages more likely.”

Article source: https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1695923/uk-blackouts-air-pollution-energy-imports-europe-national-grid