UK scales up emergency exercise to prepare for possible energy shortages

A ‘wargame’ designed to ensure the UK is prepared for a possible shortage of gas has been extended amid warnings of a potentially "catastrophic” winter.

The emergency planning exercise will be run over four days, rather than the usual two, according to the BBC.

Earlier this month The Independent revealed that gas power stations could be shut off to ration energy supplies as part of the drills, to stave off widespread blackouts this winter. The government has told customers not to panic as it insists there is no risk to UK energy supplies.

But a senior manager at energy giant EDF warned consumers face a "dramatic” winter ahead.

And Labour’s shadow defence secretary said that, with the energy crisis linked to the war in Ukraine, the UK was a victim of "economic warfare".

The National Grid ‘wargame’, which will be held next month, will involve scenarios in which a loss of gas supply triggers an emergency situation for the energy system.

Called Exercise Degree, it will involve government, regulators and large energy companies.

Earlier this week energy bosses warned that if skyrocketing bills had been seen in other sectors customers would be paying the equivalent of £25 a pint.

Philippe Commaret, from EDF, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We face, despite the support that the Government are already announced, a dramatic and catastrophic winter for our customers.

"In fact, in January half of the UK households might be in fuel poverty.”

Labour’s John Healey warned that the UK was facing not just a “market failure and poor practice by the energy companies” but also “the economic warfare that Russia has been waging on Europe."

He told LBC: "It’s no coincidence that in the year before they invaded Ukraine, they cut the supply of gas to Europe over those 12 months by half - forcing up prices, putting on pressure and it’s part of what military specialists would say [is] a form of hybrid warfare and aggression."

He added: "We are facing Russian aggression which extends into our economy, extends into the disinformation that sows division within our society - which sort of undermines our belief in our own country - and we’ve got to reinforce our resilience at home and reinforce our defences abroad.

"That’s why our armed forces are just so vital to this country at the moment.”

A spokesperson for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said the UK had "one of the most reliable and diverse energy systems in the world".