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National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) has stood down the two backup coal units it had instructed to warm up in anticipation of tight supply margins on Monday evening (12 December).
The warm-up instructions had been issued at around midnight on Sunday, with the ESO calling on the fifth and six units at the Drax power station in North Yorkshire to be ready to synchronise with the power grid from around midday on Monday.
However, shortly before they were due to be ready, the ESO stood down the 570MW units, stating that there would be “adequate available contingency” for Monday evening.
Margins were expected to be tight due the recent cold spell combined with low wind output, which at the time of publication had remained below 2GW throughout Monday.
The coal units were at one point due to close at the end of September after fulfilling their last Capacity Market contracts, but in June were contracted by the ESO to remain available until March 2023 as part of one of several contingency measures to prevent blackouts this winter amid the global gas crisis.
Three other coal units have also been contracted to stay online over the winter – two 400MW units at EDF’s West Burton A plant and a 480MW unit at Uniper’s Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station.
On Monday, the ESO also released its latest forecast for the cost of the contracts, putting the figure in the region of £340 million to £395 million, depending on the costs of procuring fuel. It said there would also be additional carbon costs if and when the units are run.
National Grid had previously estimated the cost at up to £420 million.
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