M&C Group claims UK energy market is at risk

France is facing a growing dependency on electricity imports as demand outpaces supply, particularly at peak times.

David Hunter, an energy analyst from the M&C Energy Group, believes that energy will become a scarce commodity, resulting in increased prices and real risks of blackouts.

’At a time when the UK is facing its own looming energy gap, the news that our neighbours across the channel are likely to demand imported power from us is likely to both drive up peak prices and tighten our own supply margins further. The UK market is linked to the continent’s via interconnectors, so that extra power will most likely go to the highest bidder,’ he claimed.

’The irony is that French electricity giant EDF is one of the UK’s major energy providers - but it’s owned by the French government. The French taxpayer also owns 35 per cent of Gaz de France (GDF), which is looking to take over International Power, the operator of several UK power stations. The UK could have little say in where energy produced here will go,’ he added.