The National Grid could cut off gas pipelines to the Netherlands and Belgium under emergency measures, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine puts pressure on global energy supplies. Shutting down pipelines – known as interconnectors – would be part of a four-step plan that would include cutting supplies to large industrial users and urging consumers to cut back on their household consumption, the Financial Times reported. Ministers are trying to support Britain’s energy supply amid a crackdown exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia has also stepped up pressure on other European nations by reducing their gas supplies in response to the rush to fill European storage caves before winter. The two offshore interconnections connecting Great Britain with Belgium and the Netherlands carry their maximum capacity – exporting 75 million cubic meters of gas per day to mainland Europe – from March. Britain has healthy quantities of natural gas, including imports of liquefied natural gas, but low storage capacity. Investec analyst Nathan Piper said: “Interconnections play an important role in European energy security, allowing LNG volumes landed in the UK to be transported to European storage in the summer, providing a safe haven for volumes to be sent back to Europe. “Where the UK is stored is limited during the winter months.” European gas companies have warned that the closure of the pipelines could boomerang in the UK. Bart Jan Hoevers, President of the European Network of Transmission System Operators, told FT: “I would definitely recommend them [the UK] reconsider disconnecting the interface [in the event of a crisis]. “Because while it is good for the continent in the summer, it is also good for the UK in the winter.” As part of other measures to safeguard energy supply during the winter, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has reached an agreement to extend the life of a Nottinghamshire coal plant and hopes to enter into similar agreements with two more plants. Subscribe to the Business Email daily email or follow the Guardian Business on Twitter at @BusinessDesk Earlier this month, British Gas owner Centrica signed a major supply deal with Norwegian state oil company Equinor to deliver enough gas for the next three years to heat an additional 4.5 million homes a month. Centrica is also in talks with the government to reopen Britain’s largest gas storage facility – Rough, off the east coast of England – which closed in 2017. The Department of Enterprise, Energy and Industrial Strategy has appointed Jonathan Mills, formerly in government, as director of energy strategy, as director general of winter resilience earlier this month.
