LONDON—Europe’s energy-squeezed winter has sent power operators and businesses into high alert for blackout risks, heightened by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
In a control room in Glasgow, dozens of engineers and supervisors for months have been executing a series of “desktop rehearsals,” in which they game out the many various ways a blackout could unfold.
Winter is always dicey in Northern Europe, said Guy Jefferson, operations chief for ScottishPower’s SP Energy Networks in Scotland, North Wales and England, but this year’s preparations go beyond bracing for the season’s severe storms. They are developing plans not only for uncontrolled blackouts, but also the increased risk of scheduled disconnections, or brownouts, which could be ordered by the U.K.’s National Grid to balance supply and prevent more-chaotic outages.
“Prepare for the worst, hope for the best,” Mr. Jefferson said.
So far, grids have mostly held up. Power-conservation efforts are getting a boost from high natural-gas and electricity prices, which analysts say have spurred households and companies to curtail their energy consumption, in some cases well beyond official targets. Coal is also helping fill gaps.
Some power customers are building their own contingency plans.
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