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National Grid puts two coal-fired power plants on standby

by metro.co.uk Leave a Comment

Two coal units at British power plants have been placed on standby to deal with tightened supplies on the UK’s electricity network.

The National Grid ordered the units to be warmed up on Sunday night in case more energy sources are needed.

The move coincides with the arrival of a cold snap and follows a sudden drop in wind generation.

Temperatures plunged below freezing across much of England and Wales on Sunday night and are expected to remain frosty through to Monday night.

A Met Office cold weather warning remains in place until 6pm on Tuesday.

The combination of colder weather and volatile supplies from wind power has heaped pressure on the power grid in recent weeks.

Wind power has become one of the main sources of electricity generation in the UK in recent years, often surpassing gas during the last two winters.

But it remains susceptible to sudden large drop-offs, forcing the UK to import electricity from Europe or ramp up fossil fuel generation.

The latest data on the UK’s energy mix shows the amount of daily power supplied by wind generation has halved since Thursday, while several gigawatts of electricity were imported from France.

The country had to rely on last-minute supplies of power from the French and Dutch networks – which are supplied to the UK via undersea cables – during a supply scare last month.

National Grid blamed a fault on the network in southern England and confirmed that no homes or other properties lost power during the incident.

Rolling blackouts were laid out as a possibility in the body’s worst-case scenario predictions this winter but have been avoided so far .

It has largely refrained from using the flexible energy scheme in which people are paid to use less power during peak times.

The so-called Demand Flexiblity Service (DFS) was activated for the first time on January 23 and ran for two days with no disruption to the power grid.

The coal units which have been placed on standby are located at EDF’s West Burton A plant and Uniper’s Ratcliffe-on-Soar plant, both in Nottinghamshire.

The grid’s electricity system operator (NGESO) said the order is ‘not confirmation that they will be used’ but that they ‘will be available if required’.

A spokesperson added: ‘NGESO as a prudent system operator has developed these tools for additional contingency to operate the network as normal.

‘This does not mean electricity supplies are at risk.’

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Genesis Energy gives green light for large solar power plant in Canterbury

by www.stuff.co.nz Leave a Comment

Genesis
Genesis’ promotional video for its Lauriston solar farm.

Genesis Energy has given the go-ahead for a large solar farm near Lauriston on the Canterbury Plains, an hour’s drive south of Christchurch.

The state-owned power company, whose assets include the coal and gas power plant at Huntly, said the solar power plant would be capable of generating 80 gigawatt-hours of power a year, or enough to power nearly 10,000 homes, once it was completed next year.

For comparison, the country’s total power demand sits at about 40,000GWh.

The solar farm will be built by British-based solar specialist Hive Energy, with Australian firm FRV Australia also playing a role as Genesis’ joint venture partner in the investment.

READ MORE: Should NZTE have helped Google exec Urs Holzle invest in NZ solar power? Rod Drury and Sam Morgan help get $300m solar farm project over the line Top Google exec backs $1.3 billion investment in NZ solar power Genesis Energy plans biggest NZ investment in solar power to date

Genesis said in a statement that the solar farm would comprise 80,000 solar panels on a 90-hectare site and already had resource consent.

About 50 jobs would be created building the plant, but it would only require three full-time staff once operational, it said.

Genesis chief executive Tracey Hickman said the project was a step on the road to fulfilling its strategy of developing 2650 GWh of new renewable generation by 2030.

“Solar is a good addition to New Zealand’s generation mix and when it reaches scale it will play an important role in helping manage dry year risk when hydro levels are low and the wind doesn’t blow,” she said.

“There have been lots of solar announcements but not many have the land, consents and grid connections in place. We’re looking forward to making more announcements on solar through the year,” she added.

Analysts at Forsyth Barr calculated in April last year that 12 different businesses were planning to develop 2500GWh of solar power around the country and that another 2000GWh was being more loosely discussed, but said it didn’t expect all of those projects to follow through to completion.

Coal power station put on standby with low winds forecast

by www.telegraph.co.uk Leave a Comment

The National Grid has asked one of Britain’s coal-fired power plants to be on standby as low winds are expected to leave electricity supplies tighter than usual.

In an announcement yesterday, National Grid ESO (electricity system operator) said it had stood up one coal unit at Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station, owned by Uniper, with a capacity of 480 megawatts.

The unit, one of five being kept in reserve this winter , has been instructed to begin warming so that it is able to dispatch power on Tuesday if needed.

A statement from the Grid added: “This notification is not confirmation that the unit will be used on Tuesday, but that it will be available to the ESO, if required.

“The ESO as a prudent system operator has developed these tools for additional contingency to operate the network as normal.

“This does not mean electricity supplies are at risk.”

A spokesman said the main reason for standing up the coal-fired unit was a forecast of low winds on Tuesday. That is likely to mean less power than usual is generated from the country’s wind farms, making electricity supplies tighter.

Yesterday, data from the Grid showed that 22pc of the nation’s power was being generated by wind, with 27pc coming from gas-fired power plants, 13pc from nuclear and 8.5pc from solar. Another 5.7pc was being generated from biomass and just 1.6pc from coal.

Two coal-fired units at Drax in Yorkshire and one at West Burton in Nottinghamshire, owned by EDF, were asked to fire up late last month but were not called into action.

On that occasion, the ESO said the warm-up instruction was a response to a request from the French grid operator, RTE, amid strike action affecting electricity generation.

Bangladesh minister says no concerns on power supply from Adani

by economictimes.indiatimes.com Leave a Comment

Synopsis

There have been concerns about supply of power from Godda, which was set up to supply power to Bangladesh, as the transmission line that will carry the electricity wasn’t complete.

Bengaluru: Bangladesh has no concerns about Adani Group ‘s ability to supply power from a plant in Jharkhand, said Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, Adviser to the country’s Prime Minister on energy. Speaking on sidelines of the India Energy Week here, Chowdhury, who holds ministerial rank, said talks with Adani on the supply are private and can’t be made public.

“Electricity will come very timely. Summer peak is coming and that 600 MW of Adani Power is very helpful,” he said.

Adani Power’s Godda thermal plant in Jharkhand is “already in place,” he said. “So there is no reason to be concerned. people have gone and seen the plant.”

There have been concerns about supply of power from Godda, which was set up to supply power to Bangladesh, as the transmission line that will carry the electricity wasn’t complete.

There were reports that Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) has urged Adani Power for a discount on variable energy costs to compensate it for higher price of imported coal.

Adani Group is reportedly considering the proposal. An arm of Adani Power had inked a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) for 1,496 megawatts (MW) with BPDB for 25 years in 2018.

However, Adani Power has reportedly denied any request for revision of PPA for the project by the BPDB.

The BPDB had objected to coal price of USD 400 per tonne quoted in the PPA as very high and had urged Adani Power that the price should be around USD 250 per tonne.

The 1,600 MW (2X800 MW) ultra supercritical, coal-based thermal power plant at Godda (Jharkhand) is being set up by an Adani Power arm Adani Power (Jharkhand). First unit of 800-MW plant has been synchronised with the Bangladesh power grid .

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Won’t privatise power supply companies, will bring more competition: Singh

by indianexpress.com Leave a Comment

The Union government was working at amending laws to bring in more competition among electricity distribution companies (discoms) of various states in the country.

Union Minister for Power, and New and Renewable Energy RK Singh said that the proposal was not to “privatise electricity supply companies. What you do is to bring in competition.” He was responding to queries on proposals to privatise state-run discoms at a media briefing along the sidelines of a G-20 Energy Transitions Working Group Meeting, Sunday.

The present discoms, he said, would remain. “But they should be asked to compete so that you, as a consumer has a choice. And if that discom is not performing (and) somebody else can give you a better service, you can switch (to a different power supplier) just like you switch your mobile service provider. That’s my vision,” Singh said.

“The concept of and provision for multiple licensees to operate in a same area of supply has been enshrined in the law in (The Electricity Act of) 2003,” he said. The Act provides for more than one licensee to operate in the same area of supply. That means competition, according to the Union Minister. There is one clause in the law which allows this to take off, he said. “This (power supply by private firms) is going on in Mumbai . But it is not taking off (in other places) due to one difficulty. It is that difficulty we are seeking to remove through the amendment,” he added.

The proposed amendment, which is now being scrutinised by a Parliamentary Committee, will make sure that there is a provision in law for multiple licensees to operate in same area of power supply, Singh said. The proposal to allow private companies to supply power, it can be recalled, was met with opposition from many state governments. It was first mooted in 2020-21.

On the clearance for coal-based power plants despite the push for renewable sources, Singh said that the such power plants were essential to ensure round the clock power supply. “We need a dispatchable load whenever required…. Once renewable energy becomes viable then coal will be retired. Otherwise, no.

I am not going to compromise with the availability of energy for the requirements of my growth and for the better standards of living of our people…. Irrespective of where it comes from we shall provide the energy for maintaining and retaining the rate of growth,” he added.