National Grid has stood down two Drax Group (LSE:DRX) owned coal-fired power stations after ordering them to start firing up overnight, following a cold snap that has seen energy demand and prices soar.
The ESO can confirm that it has now stood down these coal units as there is adequate available contingency for this evening.
— National Grid ESO (@NationalGridESO) December 12, 2022
Citing on Monday morning that it had notified two “winter contingency coal units”, National Grid suggested the additional output could help ensure supply on Monday but added they may not be needed.
According to National Grid ESO, the UKs electricity systems operator, demand is expected to peak at around 45,560MW at 5:30pm on Monday, with Sunday’s high having been just below 43,000MW.
Reacting to a hike in demand, the wholesale energy price reached over £625/MWh on Sunday afternoon, falling to around £240/MWh overnight.
We've issued a notification to warm two winter contingency coal units. This measure should give the public confidence in Monday’s energy supply.
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— National Grid ESO (@NationalGridESO) December 12, 2022
Colder temperatures currently being seen across the UK, a lack of wind and hiked gas prices led the distributor to warn of “tighter” margins last week, meaning the supply of energy would be closer to demand.
Despite briefly moving to bring more generation online, the system operator said people “should continue to use energy as normal,” as temperatures are expected to remain low for the rest of this week.
In July the government relaxed permitting rules on UK coal power stations, ensuring they could be kept open and available this winter, amid fears of energy supply shortages following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Drax previously agreed to keep its Yorkshire coal-fired plant open over the winter, with Uniper and EDF also agreeing to delay the decommissioning of their Ratcliffe and West Burton A facilities in case further output was needed.