Fire Up Those Coal Plants, Please!
May 29, 2022
By Paul Homewood
h/t Philip Bratby/Frank
Shutting stable doors and all that!
Quite what Kwasi has in mind after 2024 is a mystery!
102 Comments
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NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 
Fairy dust one would imagine.
He was soon changing his tune on C4 the other week.
Also said at the time no sane country would just destroy strategic assets like a power station so quickly. They should have been mothballed.
To be fair, Ferrybridge C had been limping along since a serious “fire” (most people would have called it an explosion) in its Flue Gas Desulphurisation Unit in 2014. Nevertheless, other Coal-fired units could and should have been mothballed, had it not been for the government’s desire to be seen to be leading the fight against Climate Change.
Sturgeon likewise celebrated blowing up Longannet.
What a numpty.
I’m sure he will volunteer to isolate his house from the network when we are short of power
So he wants the fossil fuel generators to hang about on idle in order to fill the gaps when unreliables don’t perform.
It all sounds a bit like having to pay to keep a taxi running outside your house to cover for when your car won’t start.
Excellent analogy 🤣🤣
Pinched that!! Great analogy!
Which is exactly what we’ve been doing now for a decade or more. But instead of having two taxis competing to offer the best price, we blew one up for no reason other than to show how “committed” we are to a lunatic plan.
Except the car frequently won’t start. Get rid of the car.
The silly thing is that throughout last winter coal was considerably cheaper than gas. If we had retained the 5GW that we still had last summer and ran it as baseload we could have saved a considerable amount on gas imports and almost certainly we would have seen lower prices for electricity and gas, and we would not have had the extreme electricity price spikes where we had run out of generating capacity and had to bid for every last Watt we could import, including from Ireland, to keep the lights on.
We will face the same next winter, except now with at best 3GW of coal.
Still nothing on getting Calon CCGT back into action.
Whose left? West Burton 1GW, Drax 1.3GW and Ratcliffe 1.5GW was my understanding although W.Burton had said they would close in Sept 22 so they are the ones that will need to be sweet talked but I’m sure edf can cut a deal if the price is right
CO2 pricing, including the self-flagellation of the UK Price Floor, artificially puts coal fired generation out of merit. If the government now wishes coal fired power to remain in operation (to reduce dependence on gas), it will be driving up prices through its own taxes. So there’s another way Rishi and the crew could help those hard pressed consumers.
The fundamental problem we have (in the UK, Europe and the Far East) is the shortage of gas outside of the US. Gas consumption is being rationed by sky-high prices, as bidders vie for short supplies.
If we are to reduce dependence on gas, we need to ditch the CO2 taxation on coal fired generation to encourage higher load factor. But it will be challenging to keep the coal fired units are available, as I have commented here before. Reliability might be compromised because of the condition of the equipment and staff retiring from the industry in the expectation the coal fired units are to close.
I don’t believe Calon CCGTs are the solution to shortage of fuel (gas). It gives us more metal on the ground, but that doesn’t answer the issue with securing gas supplies.
Another major issue we will face is the uncertainty in gas supply as the variability of renewable inputs leave us unable to accurately anticipate gas purchases to order from distant shores.
UK had been attracting LNG cargoes easily over last two months but NG then put the mockers on it saying the NTS couldn’t cope and i see its pretty much dialled back its own facility at Grain. The two gas i/c’s to Netherlands and Belgium have been in full export mode for nearly two months now and if this persists into the Winter (hitherto have been largely used for imports) it will make life interesting. Europe will have to bid up the price if its truly going to cut itself off from Russian gas (which it hasn’t so far) but if a big chunk of gas being imported into UK is then exported again eating into overall gas capability for UK consumption how will KK respond to that when the Mail tells its readers the UK faces an energy shortage because we are sending our gas to the EU.
Why won’t they reopen the natural gas storage that they thought was not needed, or have they blown that up as well as the coal generators?
Jordan
Last winter there were times when we simply had insufficient capacity, and had to rely on imports over all the interconnectors, including as I mentioned Ireland, which we normally export to in low winds. Our CCGT capacity was maxed out. Next winter that situation will be worse because of nuclear closures. We need the Calon capacity to be operational, I suggest, even if it is only used in extreme shortage situations.
Kwarteng’s dithering has made the situation much worse than it need be. EdF have told him today that it’s now too late to try to prolong the life of Hinkley B nuclear power station. If he had got his act together a year ago when I was shouting about capacity shortages he would not now be in the present mess.
He’s not in a mess its the whole UK that is heading for a mess although I suspect we will muddle through this year with the diesel peakers being called on but system marginal price will be through the roof.
The politicians are scientifically illiterate. Decisions being made about UK citizen’s energy supply by a bunch of elite, foreign, globalist numpties who don’t give a toss about this country anyway.
What does a West African know about coal fired power stations? Nigeria shut theirs down when they found oil in the 60’s, now the oil is finished. Quo Vadis?
His parents came from Ghana, which has recently flirted with coal power on the back of Chinese involvementbin the country, which has been extensive.
Presumably Kwasi hopes he isn’t responsible for Energy by 2024.
He’ll get reshuffled long before then, probably Defence, that he’ll know even less about!
Peak lunacy is clearly imminent.
And let’s be clear. No-one will ever be held to account.
But “lessons will be learned”
oh yes there very phrase to get out of ever holding anyone to account let alone ever doing anything about it. Not forgetting that the enquiry will take at least half a decade and cost millions before they tell us what we already know.
When my software didn’t work in the REAL world as it was supposed to, I did two things: (1) I wrote up WHY it didn’t work right, in a “Lessons Learned” report, and (2) I FIXED the bl00dy stuff! It seems like HMG never seems to get to part 2!
And the innocent will be blamed.
“Peak lunacy is clearly imminent.”
If only! 🙂
Absolute clowns in charge. I guess being able to regurgitate random facts on University Challenge is no guide to being able to think critically nor understand engineering problems.
He says they will still phase out coal in Sept 2024 so the owners are going to charge a pretty penny to keep them going and thats if they can. Also we’ve largely run on Russian coal last few years so given we aren’t going to use that anymore we are going to have to goto US or Oz for it along with rest of the world who are looking for ships to transport. Can’t see it happening before winter demand ramps up so time to invest in a diesel peaking farm.
They could say, “No.”
Or better, “Hell, no. GFY.”
When 25% of our diesel has been coming from Russia too!
Yup another car crash coming as Russia has huge diesel refining capacity and UK has insufficient and since drivers were conned into buying diesel cars years ago demand isn’t going to diminish anytime soon. Currently stocks are being run down which is giving a false horizon for what is coming.
Dear Secretary of State,
We will not fire up any coal powered generating facilities unless you rescind the September 2024 mandate of closure.
A splendid retort.
He might also add; ‘and put us on a 15 year retainer contract. Non-negotiable retention fees and electricity prices are attached.’
Along with the Climate Change Act 2008 the greatest act of industrial & energy supply destruction since WW2
“pretty please re enre4gise your coal fired power station, just for a short while and pay us lots of lovely carbon taxes for doing it”
“Let me consider
N
FUCK OFF”
Yeah. LetmethinkaboutitIthoughtaboutitNO!
No mention from the Anti-Business Secretary of the obvious step of resurrecting shale gas drilling – last I heard he had commissioned a geological survey to see if it’s safe despite tens of thousands of wells working harmlessly in the US – pathetic!
We all know that ‘survey’ result is a done deal. Another fake, sleight of hand deception designed to buy time before they announce the decision they’ve always held from day 1, which is, of course, no fracking.
Ian
As of 2014 there had been over 30 million ‘fracks’ and no damage, Kwarteng knows this because it was in a 600 page BGS report shown on his own bloody website and I sent him a copy with the relevant parts emphasised. “The policy will not be changed.”
Well over a million, now.
When there was all that fuss in Sussex a couple of years ago when, I think Caudrilla, were planning to drill some exploratory gas wells, why didn’t anybody suggest to the activists that some windmills might be an alternative that would fit their agenda?
Kwasi Modo is a complete moron if he believes that a ‘secure energy supply’ will be provided by adding more unreliable and expensive generation. He also dribbles on like a demented fool about batteries, hydrogen and carbon capture. If only the great Putin could save us by targeting a tactical nuke at Westminster when it is full of our dorr of MPs. Just offer them a free party and they will be there in a shot.
I’m disappointed he didn’t drop one on Davos this week.
And that led to a train of thought that took me to the question, why do the elites in Davos need so many private jets? Because there is no safety in numbers. Imagine that all the really bigwigs shared an A380 – being flown by a suicidal Asian pilot….
What a cheery thought just before Sunday lunch 👍👍
All-in renewables can’t come within an order of magnitude of providing your energy needs.
I think I shall write a begging letter to #national Grid as well. Perhaps they will listen to me. After all Kwasi Kwarteng clearly has no more authority than anyone else if he has to plead like this in what is effectively a potential emergency. Have we really come to this sort of pathetic situation where a government minister has to ask a government appointed private sector controlled monopoly for permission to look after the best interests of the country?
KK has the authority he needs under Sections 34, 35 an 94 of the Electricity Act. He can nominate affected people (power transmitters, distributors, power generators and suppliers, whether licensees or exempted). He has the power to give directions including holding fuel stocks and other materials, and to operate or not operate equipment.
The reason for the letter is because he is required to “lay before Parliament” any directions he has given under these provisions. He’ll be keen not to. But he certainly has the powers.
Alok Sharma has never to me shown any ministerial competence and this statement continues in the same vein.
Be fair.
Is there a Secretary of State, a minister or a member of the shadow cabinet who you would think competent and honest enough to entrust with a couple of quid to purchase a bottle of milk? Singly or even in a group.
Please tell…
None, especially if they’re not given the correct amount of money
The cunning plan has been to price as much heavy industry out of the UK as possible, to reduce the burden on the fading electricity system. The rest will be ordered/bribed to take it in turns to shut down whenever power supplies are struggling to meet demand.
We’ll have to get used to having power only when it’s available.
It’s not as if they didn’t know.
Over 11 years ago the plan was taking shape, proves power crisis has sweet nothing to do with Putin
That is exactly what the head of National Grid said would be the case, a couple of years ago in an interview on the BBC. “You will have electricity when it is available.”
Did the politicians do anything about this, NO.
If anything they made things worse.
Several years wasted and a disaster for so many vulnerable people.
Well like today we would have to have rolling blackouts if it wasn’t for gas with wind producing a paltry 0.46GW out of 19.8GW metered and not forgetting the other 10GW of embedded onshore doing jack shit as well. We have now been running the CCGTs at an average of c18GW continuously for last 50hrs or 900GWh. So KK do realise the batteries ran out about 49.5hrs ago!! How on earth to these idiots think this is going to work without fossil fuels for at least the next 15 years and that’s on some vague hope that nuclear might come. Even more concerning this winter even if all the coal thats left stays on the system thats a big if we are going to be in the poo unless we forcibly switch off the indicators as they can no longer be relied upon to be avialble for import because (i) French nuclear is screwed down (ii) gas costs even more in EU now than UK so spread isn’t going to work the way it has over the last decade. Come on KK wake up and smell the coffee.
What a letter – so full of politico-speak BS! He can’t even bring himself to say ‘coal-fired power’, relying on the Sir Humphrey dictionary to call it ‘non-gas framework’. He’s a man who can’t use one word when ten will do and is merely setting himself up for failure – at someone else’s fault, of course. And failure there shall be as the likes of the WEF players in Ben Pile’s excellent yet disturbing video start organising their Neanderthal troops of XR et al.
“we must reduce our dependency on imported fossil fuels and accelerate the transition away from oil and gas to a secure, clean energy system based on the roll out of renewables nuclear and other low carbon technologies.”
I think he’s used the word secure in the wrong place. It should come just before oil and gas. That would remove the contradiction of what he has written, even if the result is disaster!
It’s all such gibberish I feel exhausted. Where does all the stuff needed to make renewables and nuclear come from? Not the UK. And why accelerate now? Where’s the science behind speeding up this lunacy when he’s acknowledging it’s implicit failure? And why bother with renewables if we are going for nuclear? If we’d built nuclear instead of wind 20 years ago we’d be fine now. But the Greens said no so we didn’t.
“…we are in no way [sic] dependent on gas from Russia…”
Do they not have Dictionaries in the Civil Service?
One of the MEANINGS of ‘dependent’ is ‘influenced by something else.’
It is all bathetic lies and pretence. They have sold us down the river.
Dear Secretary of State,
We note that you specifically refer to the need to reduce dependency on IMPORTED fossil fuels in your letter. We therefore await with interest your plans to reopen UK coal mining before commenting further on your request.
As a populist politician Boris has thrown money at the general public energy bills, but has sort of forgot about business energy bills.
However there is no energy left, as he deliberately demolished all the power stations.
This must be a parody letter, but it is getting very difficult to tell.
The Tories shamed themselves by deliberately demolishing all the power stations. It was Amber Rudd who made up the mandatory closure of the coal fired power stations. No point in looking to opposition parties to bring some balance to the madness, they were too busy whining about moving too slowly.
Great Britain is in serious need of mature and responsible management. We haven’t had any for decades. Let’s be honest, parliament isn’t working and hasn’t since the Thatcher era.
In all my correpondence with the execrable Clare Perry about energy supply it was quite obvious that she was supplied with all her rubbish answers by in-place Greens. I can’t imagine a country – except the UK – employing a Civil Service which is so antithetical to its political aims. We would not allow Russians to gain employment in SW1.
It’s the same everywhere, and in Europe the EU civil service is entirely immune to what happens in elections in its member states – as it is designed to be.
Prosperity produces decadence.
Completely off topic but you have just got to love those Durham Farmers!
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2022/may/28/animal-rights-activists-sprayed-with-cow-poo-meat-industry-protest-durhamL
It is worth reading the comments on this AOL article because everyone was in favour of their action.
https://www.aol.co.uk/news/animal-rights-activists-criticised-scaling-092023347.html
Same here.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/animal-rights-activists-criticised-after-scaling-roof-at-national-beef-expo/ar-AAXP8ru?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=a3a2b2d237b643e0a470aada55e5539e#comments&commentId=afaeab7c-ed2b-4644-9cdd-3a46acc6d8cd
The Minister clearly cannot recall that the maximum output that can be guaranteed from wind and solar is exactly zero.
Kwasi, or is it quasi, English. How to write reams of buzzphrase verbiage to obscure an about turn.
work with industry
to explore and seek
to deliver
frameworks
to support the operations of
that would otherwise not be available
All he needed say was : Fire up coal, now!
Is blowing up the Nation’s reliable power supply an act of treason?
That’s an interesting point. Until 1971 (and several years after the abolition of the Death Penalty for Murder), one of the few remaining offences that carried the Death Penalty in the UK was “Arson in Royal Dockyards”. It’s quite hard to imagine that this was in any way worse than the deliberate destruction of the nation’s power generation infrastructure.
“Quite what Kwasi has in mind after 2024 is a mystery!”
He knows that he won’t need to worry about that Paul. Only we will.
Pity most of the decommissioned coal stations were demolished, and with gusto and urgency.
That wasn’t really the problem, as most of them are/were old. The problem is the lack of adequate or any replacements, whether gas or coal. Nuclear is still years away, or not even on order yet.
Cuckoos change their tune in June. Just hoping.
This is the result of forty+ years of failing to plan and enact an effective domestic energy policy. In the UK, only coal offers the ability to generate relatively cheap, relatively reliable electricity.
Austria on the nuclear warpath again. Another headache for KK’s no-coal policy.
Nuclear safety warning deals blow to Johnson’s energy revolution
Austria objects to Sizewell C plant in its latest attack on British energy policy
29 May 2022
The warning, made under the Espoo convention in which nearby countries are allowed to comment on nuclear projects, raises the prospect of legal action to derail Sizewell and will be considered by the Government as part of a planning decision in coming months.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/05/29/nuclear-safety-warning-threatens-derail-johnsons-energy-revolution/
Austria? Are they worried about marine pollution from a coastal nuclear power station?
Austria – the country famous for not having a navy?
That Austria?
Austria were notorious in using delaying tactics to stop nuclear anywhere in the EU. Their Chancellor once admitted it was one of their utmost priorities to stop nuclear projects everywhere. When we were in the EU Austria successfully delayed Hinkley Point C by several years by claiming the deal broke government subsidy of industry rules.
This was actually one of the major reasons I voted leave – it was becoming all but impossible to achieve anything. I didn’t recall UK citizens voting for Austrian Chancellors but the latter seemed to think they could run the UK
Is this the same Austria that gave us Adolf Hitler, Apfelstrudel and ‘The Sound of Music’? Perhaps, with all their wonderful historical achievements, their short term memory has lapsed and they have forgotten we are no longer part of the EU? I imagine they are doing Macron’s bidding to try and punish us for having the nerve to leave the Franc/oGerman self-congratulatory club. I would hope they are told to run away and mind their own business.
Austria is generally regarded as the world’s most anti-nuclear country. I believe is is the only country in the world that refers to nuclear technology in its constitution, and bans it in its constitution:
https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/Dokumente/Erv/ERV_1999_1_149/ERV_1999_1_149.html
So now the government is using the Russia invasion of Ukraine as the scapegoat for the shambles of UK energy policy. If the lights go out they can pretend it was nothing to do with the madness of renewables but the Russians wot did it.
Meanwhile, coal comes to the rescue. I have been saying for years that baseload should be provided by coal, and burning gas for power generation is very wasteful. Burn gas at home (and even have LPG vehicles for clean city running – remember that policy from a decade ago?). Coal has little utility but its great for power stations – easy to stockpile and cheap to run.
I could not agree more. That we are burning gas to create heat to generate electricity, to transmit said electricity hundreds of miles to homes with their own gas supply, to connect electric cookers to convert the electricity back to heat is beyond parody. It used to be government advice to cook on gas as the most “environmentally friendly” option before the “environmentalists” got involved.
Very few people, however, really want to return to domestic use of dirty coal for cooking and heating if they have the gas option instead. Burning coal in controlled power plants is the most obvious and beneficial use of coal provided of course you use your own production of coal as well…..a bit like Drax was intended..
The problem there, being coal mined in the UK, is largely deep mined, so firstly relatively expensive and secondly Arthur Scargill!
Its least its still there and at a $400/tonne im sure we can afford to mine it economically now.
Scargill is now 84, unlikely to be a major issue. And Thatcher clearly defeated him.
Adam,
Where have you been for the last 40 years?
Revisiting the thread, something I hadn’t taken much note if before, but if you destroy a power-station what happens to all the grid infrastructure? What use is it unless another power-station is put in place?
Generally they leave it there but many aren’t of any practical use if there is no generation. What they do do is spend billions and billions on new grid infrastructure to connect windless farms to the grid and they spend even more money on telling them to switch off when the wind does blow as the grid wasn’t designed in the 50’60’s to transfer power on this scale from East Coast.
Adam gallon talks sense re coal. The countries which are doing well using coal get it from open-cast mammoth holes in the ground. That’s the cheap way. The UK would have to go for deep mined coal which cannot compete. Do we want our industry to thrive?
The cheap energy we need is there for the taking, fifty years supply or more. A brilliant campaign by our enemies abroad and their useful idiots here has kept that lifeline from being seized. Frack you fools!
JF
Adam gallon talks sense re coal. The countries which are doing well using coal get it from open-cast mammoth holes in the ground. That’s the cheap way. The UK would have to go for deep mined coal which cannot compete. Do we want our industry to thrive?
The cheap energy we need is there for the taking, fifty years supply or more. A brilliant campaign by our enemies abroad and their useful idiots here has kept that lifeline from being seized. Frack you fools!
JF
Yes, frack for our own gas. Dig whatever UK coal is economic – for the rest, import it from our cousins in Oz. Stop subsidising wind & solar.
100% Agree!!
Just about every energy policy decision has been a stupid one, causing nothing but harm to the UK. All driven by an insane environmentalism.
What we hear now is the slamming of doors long after the clatter of hooves has died away.
But it is clear that these folks “in charge” have learned precisely nothing. NetZero is still the mantra, despite the mounting pile of evidence that it is a wholly misdirected policy.
Of course stopping coal mining here and moving coal fired power generation abroad will be noticed by the planet and not simply be moving that dirty power generation somewhere else which will be dirtier, produce more pollution and give that generated income to someone else.
Hi
This may be of interest â US biz oriented but all the leccy car firms are running out of cash (they may well just have been fleece-the-investor scams anyway)
Thx for your efforts
Peter Lucey