Brits are paying around £2m an HOUR to power gas-fired power stations amid power shortages
Power shortages saw households yesterday paying around £2 million an hour to power gas-fired power stations.
A surge in demand due to sub-zero temperatures combined with a drop in wind power meant electricity bosses had to put emergency procedures in place to keep the lights on.
The National Energy System Operator (Neso) warned that power supplies would be under pressure between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Contracts for starting up gas-fired power stations were initiated.
At one point, NESO paid Rye House power station in Hertfordshire the equivalent of £1.8 million per hour, the Telegraph reported.
Three gas-fired units in Connah’s Quay, North Wales, also received a combined £2m per hour.
Neso did not comment on the payments – which will ultimately be borne by bill payers.
Other options to increase power – such as importing additional power via submarine cable known as interconnectors – were not available because they were at capacity.
Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, has admitted that existing gas-fired power stations will be retained in times of low wind supply
The National Energy System Operator (Neso) warned that power supplies would be under pressure between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Neso said it was looking for additional power supplies.
There are no indications that there will be power outages or that power cuts are “imminent,” a spokesperson said.
But Neso added: “In the short term, we want a greater safety cushion between energy demand and available supply.”
The UK government has pledged to ‘clean’ the energy network by 2030 – although in fact gas power will still be needed in times similar to today’s when wind energy is in short supply.
Critics wonder whether the goal will be achievable.
Wind has officially overtaken gas to become Britain’s largest energy source for the first time in 2024
Energy Minister Ed Miliband has admitted that existing gas-fired power stations will be retained in times of low wind supply.
This is the first winter in living memory where coal power has not been part of the UK’s energy supply.
Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station, Britain’s last, closed in September.
Last night at 7pm, gas energy accounted for 55 percent of the UK’s electricity supply, wind energy 8.1 percent, hydropower 2.5 percent, nuclear energy 11.2 percent, biomass 5.8 percent, pumped storage 3.8 percent and pumped storage 13.5 percent. from Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, France and Norway via submarine cables.