https://archive.ph/IFZa2
This is definitely the end of an era.
The Brits led the way into the industrial revolution using coal/steam to power it.
This is the passing of an era for the pioneers.
However the world needs to follow suit…
That is impressive.
They have several coal stations mothballed but ready to go. Just in case. Though how long it will take to get one of those fired up and feeding into the grid I don’t know.
The UK is not self-sufficient in Energy. It still imports some of it’s power from EU countries. These are long links, and if one of those links sustains damage then prices will surge as they try to reduce demand.
I’m sounding cynical about this. I hope to be proven wrong. It will be a good case study.
They are shutting that station as they enter autumn and solar starts waning, so they must have some confidence that they can get through the looming winter. Either that or some regulation has set the date in stone.
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They have a lot or RE power in the mix. Plenty of wind farms stretching out to sea as far as the eye can see.
So estimating self sufficiency wrt power is difficult because you cannot know how much wind or sun or demand there will be…
It’s probably a calculated risk to shut down a power station. My guess is that they have been keeping this one ticking over for years and never actually revved it up in earnest. (see the timeline graph of power produced)
So why keep it on standby if it’s never used??
I follow the National Grid on X. They do have a lot of RE in the mix, but it is a mix. Some days they have lots of wind power, others not so much. Same with solar. The constants are imports and nuclear.
It would be good to hear @Phil.g00 on this subject. He was working in this field so should have some insight which he could share…
Herewith another innovative plan. Variable pricing will change the demand profile but this facility will also vary with the availability of RE making this benefit difficult to automate.
A positive step in the energy transition
From Wednesday Britain will roll out a scheme that could help to reduce the country’s use of fossil fuels. The “Demand Flexibility Service” allows homes and businesses to get paid for using power at times when the grid is less strained—such as by charging an electric vehicle or running home appliances at night. Roughly 2.6m households and businesses have taken part in pilots over the past two years. Now customers will be able to use it year-round.
Demand flexibility is a cherished prize in climate policy. If grid operators can become skilled at shifting consumers away from evening peaks, or days of low wind and sun, the transition to clean power would be made much easier. It would reduce the intermittency problem of renewables; the grid would be less reliant on back-up fossil-fuel plants. Britain looks well placed to achieve the feat, in part because its energy companies are relatively fast adopters of technology.
I’m interested to see how this plays out. It seems to me that TOU tariffs have the potential to shift times of peak demand around. “Ah! It’s five past nine. Henry, be a darling and turn on the tumble drier and the dishwasher.”
The interesting detail here is that they’ve a way of dealing with low wind/sun. So there needs to be a way for the pricing and the duration for which that price is valid to be conveyed to consumers. Possibly this is where the smart meters they’ve been rolling out come into play.
Also EV charging stations will need to play the game and let poor old Henry know that he can charge now at a price that will make him cry, or wait an hour and a half whilst his dinner gets cold.
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Indeed!
How will this be communicated is the question. I’m pretty sure that there must be a commitment by the utility to hold an offer for a fixed period to simplify billing.
But how long these rates will last is the burning question.
As far as I recall the UK utilities had dual rates but this was simply a TOU rate for nighttime use when the coal fired power stations were underutilized.
Some suppliers have API endpoints where you can get pricing ahead of time. Octopus is one example.
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