Green Energy Bust: Britain's wind grid is a no-blow, switches to emergency coal to keep the lights on

Hotair ^ | 03/08/2023 | Beege Welborn

[SeekAndFind]

Gareth Fuller

Ain’t it great when a very expensive plan comes together?

This is a trip and one heckuva milestone to be proud of.

The UK’s power grid called on a new back-up coal-fired reserve to generate power for the first time yesterday.

This comes after the market failed to provide enough electricity during the worst supply crunch this winter https://t.co/S3QVSxcbkW pic.twitter.com/Ia6msjt40m

— Bloomberg TV (@BloombergTV) March 8, 2023

Turns out it was a “winter” storm in “winter” (Whoda thunk it?)! Cold snap,

“…And a windless one, too. But we should take note it didn’t last that long…”

Lucky dang thing, no? What happens when it lasts longer? Anybody asking that question?

Only by the hair of their chinny chin chins and grace of God did they even have the coal plants left to turn on during what turned out to be the coldest night of the year.

…National Grid (NGG) said two coal units that previously were due to close last September helped it meet peak evening demand.

Operators had kept the plants open for an extra six months at the request of the U.K. government over fears of possible power shortages.

The energy crisis could have been avoided if ministers hadn't forced the vast majority of coal-fired power stations to close. Worse still, the government then demolished them, so they could never be brought back into service.


https://t.co/7A11SB0Nm3

— Richard Wellings (@RichardWellings) March 8, 2023

Apparently, they’ve spent the better part of this winter skating close to the edge a number of times, but never had to fire up the reserve plants until last night.

…Coal plants under the scheme have been readied for use several times this winter but this is the first time they have been needed.

The extra generation enabled the grid to cancel an electricity margin notice (EMN), it issued late on Monday evening flagging it would like more power generation to be made available for 1630-2030 GMT on Tuesday.

Britain’s Met Office has warned of sub-zero temperatures overnight on Tuesday and issued warnings snow and ice could disrupt transportation.

So not only did the cold and the storm disrupt the wind and solar power generation, their back-up plans for buying power from France have been scuttled because of the interruption due to the pension reform strikes.

…In a tense day on electricity markets, National Grid’s electricity system operator (ESO) also asked two other coal-fired plants to warm up in case needed and called on other generators for extra supplies, as a supply crunch loomed at teatime on Tuesday.

Demand was high as a cold snap settled on Britain, while widespread strikes in France over pension reform helped knock out about 14.9 gigawatts of supply in France from state energy giant EDF, with more than 40pc of its workforce on strike.

Britain typically needs to buy electricity from France to meet its own needs during peak times during winter, but on Tuesday evening was instead exporting more than 2GW.

The ESO stressed during the day that its actions did not indicate supply was at risk, as it needs to maintain a healthy buffer.

However, the developments highlighted the strains on Britain’s electricity market at a time of huge change in the generation mix.

This is a horrible way to run a country’s power grid.

Wind power dropped to less than half its usual level & forced UK grid operator to use a back-up coal plant for the first time to prevent blackouts.

This is what happens when you hire a flaky part-time employee to do a full-time job.


https://t.co/NgIeQb2JKZ

— Brian Gitt (@BrianGitt) March 8, 2023

When does the madness stop?

This chart of available British wind energy, for all the bazillions of pounds and heartache dumped into this renewable hoax, should be terrifying someone in charge.

Wind power in the UK continues to plummet this year, now down to 5% of the electricity supply.


#ClimateScam https://t.co/icbLKgi9kM pic.twitter.com/Zs5magUkfL

— Tony Heller (@TonyClimate) March 7, 2023

As if the weather, the worthless renewables, and the French weren’t enough, it seems the British power workers are seriously considering going on strike as well.

…Separately, power grid workers who maintain the electricity grid for London and the South East have become the latest to back strike action raising the prospect of widespread power cuts.

The Unite union balloted its 1,300 members who work for UK Power Networks (UKPN) over industrial action on Tuesday.

But, the decision to reject a pay offer was described as “deeply disappointing” by a spokesman for the electricity infrastructure company.

UKPN serves around 8.3m customers across London, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Surrey, West Sussex, East Sussex and Kent.

They’ve sold their country to the cold and dark devils.

I thought the Germans were whacked.

It’s as if the entire continent is infected with some sort of irresistible urge, some unrelenting drive to enact ritual societal suicide pacts.

[Cold Heart]

Mildew on the cooling towers

[dfwgator]

She’s gone from blow to suck.

[vpintheak]

Unexpected…

[NWFree]

They’re not really much smarter than the Germans, are they?

[unclebankster]

Most of the environmental stupidity that we deal with doesn’t come from future adversaries like China, Russia, Persia, etc.

It comes from an island about the size of Oregon, which is full of highly educated people who work for the British government.

It’s hilarious that their island is full of coal but they want more expensive alternatives.

[Winniesboy]

The article implies that British energy strategy relies solely on wind. It doesn’t. Wind has always been seen as part of a diverse energy portfolio, which includes, among others, a large place for nuclear. The fact that wind, especially offshore wind, has been prominent in recent investment, has never meant that that prominence will be permanent: or that there won’t be investment in alternative and complementary sources, many of them also intermittent.
That said, there’s no doubt that there’s far too much short-term thinking and patchy implementation in energy policy.

[clearcarbon]

"Green Energy Bust: Britain's wind grid is a no-blow, switches to emergency coal to keep the lights on"

Only a liberal fool would try to outlaw 100% of carbon emissions.

[Skwor]

In only someone, anyone would have warned them, oh wait...
https://stopthesethings.com/tag/boris-johnson-energy-policy/

[Winniesboy]

It's also worth remembering that the only serious actual rather than potential power shortages in the UK in the last 50 years came when the country was almost wholly reliant, apart from a certain amount of nuclear, on a single fossil fuel source: domestically extracted coal.

And those shortages were caused not by environmental factors, but by striking miners. Margaret Thatcher subsequently destroyed the British deep-mined coal industry, not because it wasn't 'green', but to end the power of the unions.

All the more reason for diversifying energy sources, which can be disrupted by many other external factors (such as, at present war) as well as unpredictable weather. The idea that fossil fuels are somehow wholly dependable when renewables aren't is grossly overstated.

As it happens, the UK already has one of Europe's most diversified energy budgets (albeit one that has developed fairly haphazardly), and has thus been less affected than most by the Russian gas withdrawal.