The UK’s outdated coal-fired facilities have been waiting in the wings all winter in case more power is required amid the current energy crisis.
Nevertheless, none of them were lit until Tuesday as the nation prepared for the coldest night of 2023 thus far, according to The Guardian.
The National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) tweeted on Tuesday morning local time that we will preheat four of our five winter contingency coal units in preparation for possible activation on Tuesday, March 7
The Press Association said that the ESO ultimately chose to use electricity from two of the plants, which are installations run by the French corporation EDF in West Burton, North Yorkshire, England.
The transition to coal was partially prompted by the icy weather. According to The Guardian, the UK’s Met Office forecast snow and ice for a large portion of the nation on Tuesday and warned that certain locations could experience record-breakingly cold temperatures at night of minus 15 degrees Celsius.
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The Met Service stated on Tuesday that tonight might be the coldest of the year so far due to a sharp frost in numerous regions.
According to the Press Association, the National Grid contracted with some coal facilities that were about to be shut down to keep them operational during the winter precisely for days like this.
According to Reuters, the grid had warned consumers in October that if it could not import enough gas or other electricity during an energy crisis brought on by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, they could have to face rolling blackouts during times of heavy demand.
According to the Press Association, a strike in France that restricted electricity imports from that nation and unusually little wind energy production were among the reasons that contributed to Tuesday’s coal use.
Late on Monday, the ESO also published an electrical margin alert, indicating that there was a narrowing gap between supply and anticipated demand.
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A market-wide electricity margin notification (EMN) has been released. This is a regular practice we engage in during the winter, and it entails requesting additional generation capacity from generators, as ESO tweeted. The EMN does not indicate a threat to the availability of energy.
According to Reuters and the Press Association, the ESO’s usage of the coal plants allowed it to end the warning at 3:30 p.m. Around 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, when the peak demand had passed, the coal plants ceased supplying electricity to the grid.
In its coverage of the incident, City A.M. stated that coal is the fossil fuel that contributes the most carbon dioxide to the global warming catastrophe.
National Grid is relying on coal, the world s dirtiest energy source, to keep the country s lights on tonight as a cold snap and planned nuclear shutdowns in France put a strain on the UK s energy sources, Nicholas Earl wrote for the site.
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But, despite Tuesday’s reversal, coal use is significantly down in the UK. According to a Monday article from Carbon Brief, it dropped by 15% in 2022 to levels not seen since 1757.
In that year, William Cavendish was the prime minister of the UK, George II was the monarch, and the industrial revolution had not yet started. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Austria a year earlier, according to Simon Evans’ Carbon Brief article.
