Britain’s high carbon prices look set to drive more prolonged periods without coal generation, but the country is still reliant on coal power from overseas, energy analyst firm EnAppSys has claimed.
UK power prices turned negative for nine consecutive hours on Sunday in what’s been billed as an “extraordinary turn of events” for the country’s electricity system.
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.