Over the past few years, there has been a series of reports from think-tanks, professional bodies and the media speculating to various degrees of certainty that the UK electricity system is facing a looming security of supply crisis often termed an ‘energy gap’. These claims are vigorously disputed by National Grid and Ofgem, which maintain that the UK has sufficient capacity to satisfy demand for the foreseeable future.

This Energy Futures Lab briefing paper reviews the evidence surrounding electricity supply security in the UK to determine whether there is a serious risk of electricity supply issues in the next five years , what the issues and concerns are and why the topic is so controversial.

You can download the full report as a PDF.

During the preparation for the briefing paper Energy Futures Lab also produced a Scoping Note on the topic.