Britain has become more dependent on gas imports North Sea gas production, which supplies about a third of Britain's winter demand, fell by about 5% in the heating season, according to the UK gas network operator's winter forecast. To make up for the shortfall, liquefied gas imports are expected to increase by 5% and pipeline supplies from Norway by 1%. The National Gas Transmission said the country would have "sufficient capacity to supply gas" even under extreme pressure. However, "strong demand for LNG in Europe may increase competition for cargoes and put upward pressure on prices." Britain's electricity reserve - the amount of free capacity available during periods of peak demand - is expected to fall to 9.5% this winter from 10% last year, the operator of the national energy system predicts. Peak demand for the heating season is expected to increase by more than 2% to 493 million cubic meters per day, mainly driven by the energy sector. Overall, the winter demand for gas for electricity generation is expected to be lower than in previous years due to the development of renewable energy sources, but the system will still experience "periods of very high daily demand this winter, as well as significant changes in demand throughout the day," according to National Gas.