WITH the prospects of an EU referendum looming larger, do not be alarmed by all the bizarre claims coming from anti-EU commentators.
As an example, Richard Durrant (letters from November 16) blames the EU for the UK’s electricity supply capacity, claiming blackouts across Britain were narrowly avoided on November 4. Apparently EU restrictions on using fossil fuels force us to be reliant on wind power for our electricity which failed to deliver on November 4.
This is of course total nonsense.
Wind power had been very low on the days prior to November 4. This caused no problems despite the demand peaking higher than on November 4.
The situation actually arose from two large coal power stations being off-line unexpectedly. There was already a loss of supply from the French interconnector and worries over some Scottish hydro, so the coal breakdowns led to balancing mechanisms being employed.
Quite how the EU figures in all this is difficult to fathom.
Dr Martin Rodger
Bloxworth Road, Poole
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