National Grid buys 3.6GW of back-up power to meet winter demand, DSR tender to follow
Source: The Energyst
National Grid has procured some 3.58 GW of back-up power for next winter at a cost of £122.4 million.
The system operator ran the supplemental balancing reserve tender last month. It proposes to issue contracts to 12 power stations, paying them to be available if needed between November 2016 and February 2017.
The plant that stands to provide the single biggest chunk of power is the Eggborough coal-fired station. The plant’s owners said in September that they plan to close the station in March 2016. However, it will provide 681MW derated capacity over next winter, according to National Grid’s tender document.
Should any of the plants be called upon to generate, they will be paid a premium to prevent the National Grid having to take more drastic measures to maintain supply.
National Grid plans to run a similar auction for demand-side response providers in spring.
