Essay by Eric Worrall

h/t Strativarius, Breitbart; Britain has once again been forced to face the inadequacies of their energy system of the future.

Emergency coal power plants used for first time as UK sees cold snap

Two old coal-fired power plants have begun generating again as the UK expects to see its coldest night of the year so far. 

The plants had been put on standby in case of shortfalls, but started feeding power into the grid this afternoon. 

National Grid blamed high demand and a shortage of electricity from other sources.

The coal plants began operating in 1966 but were due to close last September. 

However, operators have kept them open for an extra six months at the request of the government, amid fears of possible power shortages.

Temperatures are expected to drop to -15C (5F) in some parts of the UK on Tuesday evening, with snow sweeping parts of the country. 

The cold snap is expected to last for the next few days, with weather warnings in place across the UK. 

The two coal-powered stations that are in use again again are in West Burton in Nottinghamshire. 

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Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-64879044

Isn’t it pathetic? I mean, how many billions have been spent on renewables, only for them to fall down and stop producing when power demand ramps up in a cold snap? Imagine if all the coal had been shut down, as was originally scheduled, and Britain was stuck with trying to rely on batteries and wind turbines to carry through the winter?