Essay by Eric Worrall
h/t redge; Coal plants scheduled for demolition in March 2023 have been fired up to rescue Britain’s electricity grid. My question – what is the plan for next winter?
Coal power stations fired up and customers paid to cut energy use in UK cold snap
National Grid asks Drax and EDF to start warming three plants and says it will activate its live demand flexibility service on Monday evening
Miles Brignall Mon 23 Jan 2023 09.47 AEDT
…
With a high pressure weather system with associated light winds likely to dominate for a few more days, National Grid’s electricity system operator (ESO) said early on Sunday it had asked Drax to start “warming” two of its coal units at its North Yorkshire site and EDF to do the same for one at its West Burton plant in Nottinghamshire to ensure supplies on Monday.
..
The request over the power plants followed a similar one in the middle of December, although back then the coal-fired stations were not used, as the operator generated enough power from other sources.“Our forecasts show electricity supply margins are expected to be tighter than normal on Monday evening,” the ESO said. “We have instructed coal-fired power units to be available to increase electricity supplies should it be needed tomorrow evening.
…
With much of the UK enjoying light winds and a cold sunny Sunday, wind power accounted for just 6.89 gigawatts, about 17.6% of the total being generated.
…
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jan/22/coal-fired-power-stations-restarted-again-as-uk-cold-snap-bites
Back in July 2022, Drax announced it had agreed to defer decommissioning of its coal assets until March 2023.
Six-month extension of coal operations at request of UK Government
6 July 2022
In response to increased pressure on European gas markets and associated concerns about electricity security of supply in the UK this winter, the UK Government has asked owners of legacy coal-fired generation assets, including Drax, to work together with National Grid to temporarily extend the life of their coal generation assets to March 2023.
At the request of the UK Government, Drax has now entered into an agreement with National Grid – in its capacity as the electricity systems operator – pursuant to which its two coal-fired units at Drax Power Station will remain available to provide a “winter contingency” service to the UK power system from October 2022 until the end of March 2023. The units will not generate commercially for the duration of the agreement and only operate if and when instructed to do so by National Grid.
…
Read more: https://www.drax.com/investors/six-month-extension-of-coal-operations-at-request-of-uk-government/
Who thinks Britain is ready to decommission its remaining coal assets?
How much of everyone’s power bill is the cost of keeping Drax and other coal plants ready to roll at any moment, because the useless renewable fleet cannot reliably cover Britain’s energy needs?
No doubt the usual suspects will declare that the cost of keeping these plants ready to run, is a subsidy of fossil fuels.
How much wind OVERCAPACITY would they need to meet increased demand brought by frigid temperatures under high pressure causing decreasing wind generation capabilities? Then what happens when the wind decides to blow again and the overcapacity is producing more than is needed?
I believe it was an Americn who originally said “Realism is a bitch”! Sure is!
The laundered, unreliable, Green blight is a niche solution.
False alarm.
I put that story up a couple of hours ago and no sooner had the interweb ink dried, than I saw that the coal plants had been ‘stood down’
I did wonder where they were getting the coal from though
It seems France had more lecky than they planned – the interconnects are all glowing nicely with 2.1G from France and a total of 4.8GW from the continent.
1.4 of that from Norvege, it must have been raining over there
On the ITV News at 6pm tonight there was a report on this very subject, and the plan to pay people £20 (~25$) per night to switch off at peak periods in the evening. The reporter acknowledged the no wind no sun problem, even saying there was the need for a Plan B despite interconnectors, mostly on import tonight.
Plan B is at the planning stage
The idiotic environmentalists, the money-grabbing land-owners, and Russia when it’s back selling gas as if nothing has happened.
No comment required:
Call it the Griff Paradox.
I guess blackouts with ever increasing installed wind energy capacity would not look good.
Meanwhile….
Lights out in Pakistan as energy-saving move backfires | AP News
My question – what is the plan for next winter?
My question – what is the plan for next week?
National Grid asks Drax and EDF to start warming three plants and says it will activate its live demand flexibility service on Monday evening
…
“We have instructed coal-fired power units to be available to increase electricity supplies should it be needed tomorrow evening.
_____________________________________
So how long does it take to fire up a coal powered station from a standing start?
Hmmm, are all the employees still available?
“”what is the plan for next winter””?
Smart meters – one for everyone
OT, but might be an important discovery, published today in Nature
?fit=1250%2C868&ssl=1
Abstract
“….. 1964 and it seems to be associated with a gradual turning-back of the inner core as a part of an approximately seven-decade oscillation, with another turning point in the early 1970s. This multidecadal periodicity ( differential rotation of Earth’s inner core relative to the mantle) coincides with changes in several other geophysical observations, especially the length of day and magnetic field. ”
Many observers in past have noticed correlation between global temperature variations and the LOD (length of day).
I have also occasionally (here on the WUWT) mentioned my own ‘discovery’ of a link between global temperature and the Earth’s magnetic dipole variabilities.
What does this discovery about the Earth’s core rotation mean?
60+ years multidecadal cycle in the global temperature variability which is found in the Earth’s magnetic field variability may temporarily disappear. It’s eventual reappearance may have a considerably different multidecadal periodicity or no periodicity at all.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-022-01112-z
p.s. this was written & posted from a bit unruly hand held device so it may contain some errors.
If the greentards have their way, they’ll sneak in the demolition of one or more of these plants during a spring or fall lull. Next winter may be much more interesting, depending on weather conditions.
How much of everyone’s power bill is the cost of keeping Drax and other coal plants ready to roll at any moment, because the useless renewable fleet cannot reliably cover Britain’s energy needs?
Paul Homewood has estimated 450 sterling per household per year, in aggregate. That was before the recent market fluctuations where the subsidies have risen on account of contracts for difference. Or rather, the refusal of the generators to enter into such contracts. A lengthy story, see Paul’s excellent site for detailed explanations. Search for contracts for difference.
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/
I was thinking if they can demolish at the same time it’s operational. That will save some money
Grandstanding by National Grid. The day ahead markets showed no sign of being so tight as to need the backup, either in GB or on the Continent. Although London has been colder than Moscow, the North and West has been in much milder air.
They also implemented a paid powercut auction for those with smartmeters via their retailers.
It seems that too is practice
https://mobile.twitter.com/naomibbaker/status/1617508164072787970
“The start of something much bigger” !!
Meanwhile the coal units were stood down
https://mobile.twitter.com/enappsys/status/1617403964320014336
Perhaps the next cold blast forecast for February might have them in real need. Nuclear capacity shutdowns in the UK and France will not help.
Why is the word warming in quotes? That is exactly what needs to be done. It is done slowly with all steam plants, taking hours or days to heat all of the hot parts uniformly to operating temperature so that the parts don’t warp or crack.
It seems some of the retailers are pocketing most of the revenue. Meanwhile the Grid keeps practising.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11667053/National-Grid-ask-British-families-cut-energy-use-tomorrow-evening.html
Calling it DFS will seem odd to Brits. That’s a relatively downmarket chain of furniture stores.
British leaders are morons however I think it is the coal company’s duty to fire up their plants to guarantee a proper level of power. Anyone who disagrees with this move should have their smart meters adjusted so they don’t benefit from coal power. In addition it is the leaders obligation to guarantee the coal power plants operate at a sufficient level to make a profit. Playing games with energy production is not acceptable not now not ever. Keep coal running until it can be replaced with gas or nuclear, wind and solar are not acceptable substitutes.
I worked at a nuke plant in Califonia that was closed about 30 years ago. When you lose a good job because of zealots, you start worry about them.
No matter what you do, there is a vocal group against it. It is just part of doing business.
If there is a lesson from Russia and China, it is they can not be depended on. American farmers grow crops. I was looking at processing soybeans and saw that new processing facilities are being built in farm states. More local property taxes and $26/hour jobs.
Sure enough there was a video on line of a group that is against it.
Today I invested in a big bad AG corporation investing money in doing things better.
An old slogan.
“Save the Trees!”
A more reality based slogan.
“Burn the ancient Trees to save the living Trees!”
Firing up coal plants for spinning reserve does not come free. Who oays? Rhetorical question. There should be a mechanism to backcharge the unreliable producers.
The one at Burton is due to be knocked down!! Morons running this country….morons who listen to other morons.