Two units at the EDF West Burton facility, a Nottinghamshire plant, began producing electricity.

Before the year’s coldest night, National Grid activated coal plants on standby as an emergency backup for the first time this winter.

Two units at the EDF West Burton facility Tuesday afternoon, a plant in Nottinghamshire began producing electricity for the grid. Their output will increase proportionally to the electricity generated from other sources.

The Met Office have issued weather warnings for rain and snow throughout the UK, with temperatures of -4°C in London and -6°C in Birmingham expected. The combination of freezing temperatures, which increase the demand for electricity and heating, and low wind, which reduces wind farm electricity production, has created tight generation conditions. 

Recently, strikes at EDF’s nuclear power plants in France, which provide electricity to Britain via subsea cables, have also caused concern.

The Nottinghamshire units are two of five covered by winter contingency contracts negotiated by the government last year to keep coal-fired power plants on standby for emergency use this winter in response to heightened concerns over power supplies.

The coal-fired plants, which include units at Drax in Yorkshire and Uniper’s Ratcliffe-on-Soar plant in Nottinghamshire, have been warmed for potential use multiple times this winter, but each time they have been shut down.

The grid’s electricity system operator (ESO) has also requested that two units at Drax in Yorkshire warm up in preparation for potential use.

Separately, ESO issued an electricity margin notice instructing the owners of all power plants to activate additional power supplies on Tuesday between 4.30 and 8.30 p.m. It subsequently eliminated this requirement.

National Grid emphasised that its efforts to increase supplies did not put supplies at risk. However, the ESO should have paid consumers and businesses to reduce energy consumption. It announced earlier on Tuesday that it may employ its demand flexibility service on Wednesday but later stated that it would not. The grid has been on high alert for potential power outages this winter due to fears that Russia will cut gas supplies to Europe, causing a domino effect in Britain. 

However, Europe’s relatively mild winter and high gas storage levels have alleviated these concerns and precipitated a sharp decline in gas prices.

A representative for the ESO stated that the coal units would provide “additional contingency to maintain normal network operation.” National Grid paid record amounts in December to encourage gas-fired power plants to ramp up production quickly. Experts anticipated it would continue paying high prices to gas-fired plants on Tuesday.

Gas-fired plants accounted for 54% of the UK’s electricity generation, while wind farms contributed 13% and nuclear contributed 10%.