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> Power generators that had been shut down could not ramp up in time to meet renewed demand Not disputing this but can someone give a source on what power gene

> Power generators that had been shut down could not ramp up in time to meet renewed demand Not disputing this but can someone give a source on what power generators in the UK where shutdown during the pandemic and could not ramp back up ? I've worked in a power plant and the gas combined cycle one I worked in could be shutdown and re-started in about 10 minutes (I know this as I actually shut one down by mistake). The only power plants I think that work like this are nuclear which must continuously run once started albeit they can be run at a lower level if demand is low. Edit: It's looks like for nuclear all I can find is Sizewell B was reduced to 50% for a few months but I can see it's back up to 100% now: https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-future-generation/covid-19-coronavirus-and-nuclear-energy.aspx https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-fu... https://www.edfenergy.com/energy/power-station/daily-statuses https://www.edfenergy.com/energy/power-station/daily-statuse...

gwbas1c 4y ago
I wonder if it's also a supply-chain or staffing issue? A combined cycle plant might be able to start "instantly," but if there's no fuel or staff, it's going to be idle.
- Dave3of5 4y ago
  > but if there's no fuel or staff, it's going to be idle That would indicate that there is a gas shortage in the UK right now which isn't true. In terms of staff the daily operations of a plant only requires a handful of people. There was I think only 2 control room operators on duty at the 1200 MW plant I was working in near Bristol (Seabank power station). So I suspect it's not that he's referring to. Given that he was a scientist at Oxford he must have data to back this up but I'd like to see what plants shutdown. Edit: Actually I'm wrong the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies looks like some thinktank that props up oil and gas. The board of directors tell you what you need to know about them. I think this whole article is garbage.
  - viraptor 4y ago
    > that there is a gas shortage in the UK right now which isn't true While not an actual shortage yet, from the info I've seen, UK is very much behind the rest of Europe on the plan to make winter reserves. https://agsi.gie.eu/ https://agsi.gie.eu/ currently storing only slightly more than Belgium for example. Do you think they could be "cautious" with distribution of what they have?
    - Dave3of5 4y ago
      > currently storing only slightly more than Belgium for example Your site is confusing and actually lists UK as 100% full (which it's not) which is the highest in the list.
  - jcranmer 4y ago
    > That would indicate that there is a gas shortage in the UK right now which isn't true. In terms of staff the daily operations of a plant only requires a handful of people. There was I think only 2 control room operators on duty at the 1200 MW plant I was working in near Bristol (Seabank power station). So I suspect it's not that he's referring to. That's true, but if a plant has been mothballed for several months or even a few years, I could see there being extra staffing required to do a un-mothballing maintenance inspection prior to startup.
    - Dave3of5 4y ago
      Has this actually happened due to the pandemic? I don't believe there was any mothballing of power plants in the UK during the pandemic.
      - jcranmer 4y ago
        I don't know.
roenxi 4y ago
Do I have any idea about UK power plants? No. But the statement is probably a truthful-but-not-accurate one that is abstracting out concerns like re-hiring laid off staff, securing fuel, delayed maintenance that must be done, safety checks on disused kit, permitting, etc that must be organised before the generator can be restarted.
ZeroGravitas 4y ago
This might be a reference to fossil fuel storage filling up during the pandemic due to lower demand which led to production being taken off line and the price crashing at one point. Before Ukraine, that and an economy rebound, particularly in the East was pointed to as the reason for the Gas prices going up. Here's a Febuaray article on that: https://theconversation.com/amp/energy-prices-how-covid-helped-them-to-surge-and-why-they-wont-go-down-any-time-soon-175679 https://theconversation.com/amp/energy-prices-how-covid-help...
rr888 4y ago
There are a lot of gas power stations in the UK. I suspect that gas prices are so high its uneconomic to run them, and gas is sent to Europe instead (or not imported like previously).

gwbas1c 4y ago

I wonder if it's also a supply-chain or staffing issue? A combined cycle plant might be able to start "instantly," but if there's no fuel or staff, it's going to be idle.

Dave3of5 4y ago
> but if there's no fuel or staff, it's going to be idle That would indicate that there is a gas shortage in the UK right now which isn't true. In terms of staff the daily operations of a plant only requires a handful of people. There was I think only 2 control room operators on duty at the 1200 MW plant I was working in near Bristol (Seabank power station). So I suspect it's not that he's referring to. Given that he was a scientist at Oxford he must have data to back this up but I'd like to see what plants shutdown. Edit: Actually I'm wrong the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies looks like some thinktank that props up oil and gas. The board of directors tell you what you need to know about them. I think this whole article is garbage.
- viraptor 4y ago
  > that there is a gas shortage in the UK right now which isn't true While not an actual shortage yet, from the info I've seen, UK is very much behind the rest of Europe on the plan to make winter reserves. https://agsi.gie.eu/ https://agsi.gie.eu/ currently storing only slightly more than Belgium for example. Do you think they could be "cautious" with distribution of what they have?
  - Dave3of5 4y ago
    > currently storing only slightly more than Belgium for example Your site is confusing and actually lists UK as 100% full (which it's not) which is the highest in the list.
- jcranmer 4y ago
  > That would indicate that there is a gas shortage in the UK right now which isn't true. In terms of staff the daily operations of a plant only requires a handful of people. There was I think only 2 control room operators on duty at the 1200 MW plant I was working in near Bristol (Seabank power station). So I suspect it's not that he's referring to. That's true, but if a plant has been mothballed for several months or even a few years, I could see there being extra staffing required to do a un-mothballing maintenance inspection prior to startup.
  - Dave3of5 4y ago
    Has this actually happened due to the pandemic? I don't believe there was any mothballing of power plants in the UK during the pandemic.
    - jcranmer 4y ago
      I don't know.

roenxi 4y ago

Do I have any idea about UK power plants? No. But the statement is probably a truthful-but-not-accurate one that is abstracting out concerns like re-hiring laid off staff, securing fuel, delayed maintenance that must be done, safety checks on disused kit, permitting, etc that must be organised before the generator can be restarted.

ZeroGravitas 4y ago

This might be a reference to fossil fuel storage filling up during the pandemic due to lower demand which led to production being taken off line and the price crashing at one point. Before Ukraine, that and an economy rebound, particularly in the East was pointed to as the reason for the Gas prices going up. Here's a Febuaray article on that: https://theconversation.com/amp/energy-prices-how-covid-helped-them-to-surge-and-why-they-wont-go-down-any-time-soon-175679 https://theconversation.com/amp/energy-prices-how-covid-help...

rr888 4y ago

There are a lot of gas power stations in the UK. I suspect that gas prices are so high its uneconomic to run them, and gas is sent to Europe instead (or not imported like previously).