Britain runs coal power stations amid energy crisis

Drax power station, generating 7% of Britain’s needs, is partly converted to burning imported woodchips.

UK energy policy, based on hypothetical climate theories, is unravelling just as PM Boris Johnson is claiming at the UN that going green is easy. Alternatives to coal are proving to be a lot more problemmatical than expected. Running short of affordable power is an avoidable outcome of supposed climate strategy, and makes governments look incompetent.
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Britain, which faces soaring natural gas prices, has been forced to run coal-fired power stations in order to secure energy supplies, electricity generation company Drax said on Thursday.

The country is particularly exposed to Europe’s ongoing energy crisis due to its reliance on natural gas to generate electricity, says TechXplore.

The price of European gas futures has more than doubled since May.

“These facilities have fulfilled a critical role in keeping the lights on at a time when the energy system is under considerable pressure,” the group said in a statement emailed to AFP.

Drax—which owns the nation’s biggest facility in Yorkshire, northern England—had planned to switch from coal to biomass this year to help tackle climate change.

The group could now extend the use of coal, Chief Executive Will Gardiner told the Financial Times.

“We’re very aware that the country might have a significant problem and if there’s something Drax can do we will absolutely think about doing that,” Gardiner told the business-focused newspaper.

Any delay could complicate Britain’s plans to scrap coal-powered electricity generation by October 2024.

Full article here.