A key UK power cable knocked out by a fire will stay partly offline until March, the National Grid Plc said, deepening the energy crisis threatening Britain as it heads into winter.
The timing couldn’t be worse: Britain is already struggling with shortages, with gas and power prices breaking records day after day. The energy crunch is fueling concerns about inflation and a potential hit to businesses just as the economy emerges from the worst impact of the pandemic.
Britain is a net importer of power, with France its biggest supplier via two cables that run across the English Channel. One of those was shut down by the fire at a converter in the U.K. on Wednesday.
It will stay at least partly offline until March, knocking out 1,000 megawatts, or the equivalent of a nuclear power station from U.K. supply. The grid said 1,000 megawatts of capacity could come back in late September.
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