The operator of the British electricity network National Grid Eso indicated on Thursday that it had requested the start-up of three coal-fired power plants, without specifying which operator, after a request from its French counterpart RTE, affected by strikes.
The three “coal units that came online last night are now being shut down again because they are no longer needed by the grid,” National Grid Eso added in a statement.
RTE had requested Eso’s assistance “after being informed of strikes at its” power generation plants on Thursday, which “could have put its network on alert.”
mutual cooperation
That underscores that it was not capable of using alternative energy to supply megawatts to France through the interconnections if the need had arisen and therefore turned to coal, a highly polluting fuel from which the country has almost abandoned in favor of thermal generation.
“As part of the mutual cooperation between Great Britain and neighboring power grids, Eso responded to France’s request to generate more electricity capacity in the UK to be able to supply power when needed on Thursday,” an Eso spokesperson was quoted as saying in the press release.
It adds that Eso was able to respond to this particular request because the UK network “was operating normally at the moment and that wasn’t putting it under pressure.”
This use of coal-fired power plants as a backup plan falls within Eso’s winter strategy, which had already announced in December, during a cold spell, that it had asked the energy company Drax to operate coal-fired power plants, without finally have to generate electricity.
As a consequence of the strikes to challenge the pension reform, EDF deplored at noon a “loss of available power” in its 1,560 MW hydraulic park, the equivalent of more than one nuclear reactor, according to its website.
These reductions in production or availability must not cause supply cuts, since they are supervised by the manager of the high and very high voltage lines RTE.
Source: BFM TV
