National Grid warns of price spikes but says British lights won’t go off this winter October 7, 2021 The National Grid has warned of increased risks of power shortages and “significant price spikes” this winter. The country would face its highest risk of power shortages in five years, the Grid said in a forecast. However, the company said it was confident that there would be “enough capacity available to keep Britain’s lights on.” [...]
National Grid’s £7.8bn power deal gets green light from competition watchdog September 1, 2021 The UK’s competition watchdog has today given the green light to National Grid’s whopping £7.8bn deal to buy Western Power Distribution (WPD). Based on the information currently available, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it had decided not to refer the merger to a phase 2 investigation. Back in March National Grid announced that [...]
Construction of North Sea Link cable completed ahead of October power-up June 15, 2021 Construction work on the world’s longest subsea electric cable has now been completed, the National Grid announced today. The final segment of the 450 mile-long North Sea Link (NSL), which connects Blyth in Northumberland to the Norwegian village of Kvilldal, has now been laid. When it begins operating on 1 October, the interconnector will provide enough power [...]
National Grid cuts Covid-19 losses with ‘solid’ year May 20, 2021 National Grid this morning said it had limited the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic to £296m, well ahead of the £400m hit it had previously predicted. The FTSE 100 firm this morning revealed that its underlying pre-tax profit had slipped just three per cent over the full year, falling from £2.5bn to £2.4bn. The [...]
‘Electric or bust’ for National Grid as it snaps up Western Power Distribution for £8bn March 18, 2021 National Grid shocked the system this morning when it announced it would buy Western Power Distribution (WPD), the holding company of Britain’s largest electricity distribution business, from US-based company PPL in a £7.8bn deal. Moreover, National Grid agreed to sell The Narragansett Electric Company (NECO) to PPL Energy Holdings, also a subsidiary of PPL, for an [...]
National Grid profit slides as Covid costs increase November 12, 2020 Energy firm National Grid posted a 12 per cent decline in profit for the first half as the coronavirus pandemic increased the network owner’s costs. Underlying profit fell from £1.3bn to £1.15bn in the six month period, which the FTSE 100 company said was down to rising bad debt provisions and a shortfall in revenue. [...]
National Grid faces breakup amid PM’s green push November 8, 2020 Boris Johnson’s push to reshape the energy industry in order to achieve the net zero target could reportedly see the break up of the National Grid. The regulator Ofgem’s recent review into National Grid will soon draw to a close and officials are exploring moves to breakup its current structure, according to the Sunday Telegraph. [...]
National Grid launches £700m subsea power link October 15, 2020 National Grid (NG) will today open its latest energy interconnector, which will provide enough clean power for 1m households. The 149-mile-long power cable, which runs between Portsmouth and Caen in France, allows the two nations to share excess zero carbon power. By the end of its first year in operation, IFA2 will have helped avoid [...]
National Grid names Paula Rosput Reynolds its first female chair September 10, 2020 National Grid has appointed seasoned executive Paula Rosput Reynolds to replace Sir Peter Gershon as chairman when he steps down next year. Rosput Reynolds, 64, currently holds a clutch of other directorships at some of the world’s largest companies, including BP, BAE Systems, and GE. She used to be chair and chief executive of Safeco, [...]
We’ve got the power: Decarbonising our transport on the road to a greener nation February 21, 2020 The government will soon publish its strategy on cutting emissions from cars, trains, boats and planes — and already the transport secretary has suggested that sales of combustion and hybrid vehicles could be banned from 2035. Change comes with questions. For example: how clean is our electricity? And can Britain’s energy infrastructure meet the demand [...]