EDF Energy has confirmed it will close the 2GW Cottam coal plant at the end of September, blaming “challenging market conditions” and the country’s decarbonisation drive.
There has been a substantial drop in the levels of new battery capacity being entered into consideration for the Capacity Market, according to the prequalification results of the next auctions.
The 2018/19 winter period could be defined by a rebound for coal and heightened price volatility, but operational margins will be higher than last year, National Grid ESO has said.
Drax Insight’s latest Electric Insights report for Q2 2018 has revealed that coal generation fell to new lows between April and June, responsible for 1.3% of the country’s power mix over the period and less than 1% in June alone.
The UK will not need any new large gas generation to plug the gap filled by retiring coal plants, with renewables and other distributed energy systems ideally placed, a new report has found.
Britain has set a new coal-free record after going over two days without generating from the fossil fuel, with a new record possible this week as low carbon generation took hold over the weekend.
Wind generation toppled several records in Q1 2018, contributing towards a record high of 25TWh of renewable generation.
Battery storage and demand-side response have continued to play a crucial role in the UK’s power mix, together landing more than 500MW of contracts in the most recent T-1 Capacity Market auction.
The UK government has today set the date and terms for its phase out of unabated coal generation on the country’s electricity grid.