UK grid pays idle gas units to fire up for winter

London

UK network manager National Grid Plc on Wednesday paid more than 60 times the market rate to fire up a plant at the last minute. The lack of generating capacity as old coal units retire will see SSE Plc dust off two idle gas units to help beat a looming capacity crunch this winter.

The need for more flexible capacity was brought to the fore on Wednesday when National Grid for the first time in more than three years issued a Notification of Inadequate System Margin, a call for extra power plants to be switched on at short notice to keep a sufficient buffer. It paid a plant operated by Calon Energy Ltd to run for a short time on Wednesday afternoon.

SSE, the UK's second-biggest utility, will next week start units at Keadby and Peterhead, which have been out of service for 21/2 years and 18 months respectively, according to the Perth, Scotland-based company. The use of gas to generate electricity rose last month to the highest level in four years as the fuel hasn't been c…