Vocal Voices

You know that whole thing about the UK not having enough power for the winter and how we have to take power from France?

I did a bit of digging about the Belgian power market because I was reading about the work “carbon footprint” where work claims it is carbon neutral. Didn’t pass the sniff test in my opinion…

However in my digging I came across this article.

Specifically this bit.

The Elia grid’s net import balance is therefore: 3,400 – 700 = 2,700 MW.

The diagrams in this presentation illustrate these situations.

Why can Elia not import electricity at both borders during critical winter peak periods?

As a transmission system operator, it is perfectly possible – and even technically preferable! – for Elia to distribute import flows across both borders, which would enable it to import more.

However, as explained above, it is the wholesale electricity market that determines the direction in which flows will be bought and sold. Elia’s hypothesis for the upcoming winter peak period is based on international analyses and assumes that there will be no energy available in France for purchase from Belgium and that France will purchase energy from Northern Europe, with limited transit through Belgium.

Especially the bit that says, “Elia’s hypothesis for the upcoming winter peak period is based on international analyses and assumes that there will be no energy available in France for purchase from Belgium and that France will purchase energy from Northern Europe”

What does that mean? It means, to me, that France is selling as much electricity as it can to the UK, at the highest per kwh sell on price in the UK, so that they can make more profit. All the other energy markets are heavily regulated by their governments. The UK, of course, lives the open markets and low regulation.

And gets shafted!

Call me old fashioned, but cross-border markets in electricity supply are madness.

Baseload supply needs to be in the hands of individual countries, and those countries need to have reserves of fuels to cover fluctuations of those markets.

If France ever feels the need, for whatever reason, to keep its baseload+ requirements in order the first supplies for the chop will be the cross-border ones.

Me too, the second they look short cost implications of not selling to the UK will be the last thing they think about. So, for instance, the 700 odd mwh that they buy from Beligium who bought them from Holland will vanish the second that Holland come up short. If Belgium can’t get that they won’t sell it to France who can’t sell it to the UK.

For the UK to base its power structure on that house of cards is total insanity….