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Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng yesterday wrote to the owners of the UK’s three remaining coal-fired plants to ask them to prepare to stay operating for longer than planned.<\/p>\n
He was also said to be poised to give the Hinkley Point B nuclear power station, in Somerset, an 18-month extension.<\/p>\n
It had been due to be decommissioned this summer.<\/p>\n
His action followed a Whitehall document warning that six million UK households could suffer blackouts this winter due to Russia cutting gas exports to the EU.<\/p>\n
Downing Street insisted the Government did not expect power cuts but refused to rule out the possibility, saying it was looking at “a range of scenarios”.<\/p>\n
Tory frontbencher Chris Philp yesterday confirmed the Government was considering whether Hinkley Point B “might continue beyond its planned end of life”.<\/p>\n
In his letter to the three power plants and to the National Grid, Mr Kwarteng wrote: “While we are in no way dependent on gas from Russia, I am mindful that a shortage of gas in Europe could put considerable pressure on the European gas market and suppliers of liquefied natural gas, with the potential for additional, consequential impact on electricity markets.”<\/p>\n