Kwasi Kwarteng has asked the Electricity System Operator (ESO) to work with the industry to bolster UK security of supply by delivering coal generating capacity for next winter.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has published a letter from the secretary of state for business and energy to Fintan Slye, executive director of the National Grid’s system operator arm.
He writes that the risks of potential gas shortages, resulting from the disruption to supplies caused by the Russian conflict, could be mitigated by “significantly” increasing the amount of non-gas-fired capacity available over the winter.
Kwarteng has requested the ESO to work with industry to explore additional non-gas-fired capacity over the coming winter that would “otherwise not be available”.
He adds that BEIS has identified certain coal plants that could furnish additional capacity and has written to their operators to encourage engagement with the ESO.
Any frameworks agreed for resourcing this additional non-gas fired capacity will need to ensure “system stability and enable the providers to be reliably available over the winter and for them to have the potential to generate significant amounts of electricity”.
Any agreement must also deliver value for money to electricity consumers, adds Kwarteng’s letter.
It also says that BEIS is working to address any regulatory or other barriers which may prevent non-gas-fired capacity from being available this winter.
The secretary of state writes that he remains committed to the government’s deadline to close all UK coal powered generation by September 2024.
The publication of the letter coincides with a report in The Times that the UK faces potential blackouts and rationing at peak times next winter if Russia cuts off gas supplies in retaliation for European support for Ukraine in the ongoing war.
The same report says Kwarteng has asked the owners of the UK’s three remaining coal plants to keep them open beyond September when they are currently due to close.