Texas and the storm: Could an extreme weather event cause a similar blackout in the UK?

By Molly Lempriere

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The coldest weather since 1989 hit Texas last month, knocking out much of its generation capacity and leading to rolling blackouts amidst a devastating statewide crisis.

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One of the key considerations with the blackouts is the lack of interconnection with Texas’ grid – managed by the Electric Reliability Council Of Texas (ERCOT) – and the rest of the US. The majority of the US is connected to ether the Eastern Interconnection or the Western Interconnection, allowing states to trade electricity between them.

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Greater flexibility in a grid can create greater reliability of supply, allowing for more alternatives if something constrains supply. In Britain, National Grid ESO has been working to make the electricity network more flexible through a number of pathways including EMNs and STOR.

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"We’ve proposed a framework that faces uncomfortable truths, values resilience properly, tests for vulnerabilities and drives adaptation before it is too late. That framework can be supported by transparent resilience standards for key sectors, routine stress testing and ensuring that regulators are helping ensure private operators value resilience appropriately.”

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