Britain’s energy grid remained ‘stable’ during recent heatwaves with no imminent risk of blackouts, an energy minister has assured Parliament, despite serious allegations of improper conduct at the National Energy System Operator (Neso).
This assurance follows Neso issuing its third electricity margin notice of the year last week, a plea for more power generation amid high temperatures.
Extreme heat places pressure on the electricity system, reducing efficiency for nuclear power, gas, and water cooling systems.
However, shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho has raised concerns from ‘multiple whistleblowers’ alleging improper conduct at Neso during the June heatwave.
According to Ms Coutinho, the whistleblowers claimed that on 23 June, Neso ‘failed to meet the grid security standards put in place to prevent blackouts’.
They also alleged the corporate affairs team ‘interfered with operational decisions’ and that ‘operational decisions were being recorded in live documents with no audit trail’.
Energy minister Michael Shanks stated that the allegations from whistleblowers are taken ‘incredibly seriously’, and that ministers have been engaging with Neso and the energy regulator Ofgem ‘to establish the facts’.
Neso has now asked an external legal firm to conduct an independent investigation into the claims.
The report will be delivered to the board’s head of risk and controls and to Ofgem “in the coming weeks”, Mr Shanks said.
However, the minister reassured MPs that it is “simply not the case” that blackouts were imminent.
He said: “During this period of unprecedented extreme heat, the Great British grid remained stable.
“No customers were impacted by tight electricity margins, and Neso had a number of tools available to them to ensure our energy security.
“Great Britain has one of the most resilient energy systems in the world, and the Government works closely with Neso and the wider sector to ensure that this resilience is constantly maintained.
“Margin notices such as those that were issued by Neso during the heatwaves are standard operational tools that can be used to support energy security, and these were used successfully to maintain grid stability.”
He later added: “We met the electricity demand on every single one of the days in question…
“I don’t, for a second, doubt that it was difficult on some of those days, as it was across all of Europe.
“The answer to that is to invest further in the stability of the grid and to tackle, I have to say, fundamentally, the question of why our temperatures are rising year after year after year, which is climate change.”
The minister also warned that Ms Coutinho is “conflating” concerns raised by whistleblowers with the risk of blackouts, and branded it “absolutely irresponsible” to suggest that the energy system was at risk.
He said: “She is conflating two things, I think wilfully in fact, which is firstly to say that there are questions to be raised that have been raised with her from by whistleblowers, which we absolutely will now investigate.
“But secondly, she then suggests that the electricity grid was in a state in which blackouts were imminent, which is simply not the case.
“And I would just gently say to her that it is absolutely irresponsible in this place and on social media to suggest that our energy system was at risk in recent periods.”
Ms Coutinho criticised the Government for dismissing her as “scaremongering”, and said: “Considering the consequences of blackouts to people’s lives, this is nothing short of a disgrace.”
She added: “Whilst the Government washes its hands of this situation, the investigation that has been set up is a complete sham.
“It will not look into whether or not the grid is being run securely, or whether there was a breach of security standards on June 23.
“It does not grant anonymity to any control room operator who wants to come forward. Those who are not selected by Neso management will have to ask those managers to participate if they have concerns.
“And, remarkably, the chief executive of Neso on an all-staff call on Monday prejudged the outcome of the investigation by calling the allegations false, while senior management said the whistleblowers had let them down.
“Let me be clear: the whistleblowers who put the national interest over their own careers should be celebrated for their courage and their integrity, not denigrated.”
Mr Shanks said he would not comment “on leaks from internal conversations that may or may not have happened”.
