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The government has attempted to quell blackout fears this winter after a fire shut down half the capacity at a power station in Oxfordshire.
The blaze tore through the gas-fired Didcot B plant on Sunday night. Its owner, RWE npower, had closed the site to stop the flames spreading.
Ed Davey, the energy secretary, said National Grid had assured him there was no risk to energy supplies.
A spokesman for his department went further by pledging there would be no supply crisis over the winter, with demand peaking in January. “The lights will not go out this winter. Up and down the country there are power stations on standby that can start pumping out power when needed, and the government has given National Grid the extra powers it needs to ensure there is enough electricity to keep the lights on,” he said.
But National Grid said the longer-term effect on supply was difficult to judge and that its annual winter outlook report, published next week, would take account of Didcot’s reduced capacity.
RWE npower said: “The affected part of the site will remain non-operational until an investigation and repairs can take place. It is too early to give any definitive estimate of how long this will be.”
Davey previously said Britain may have to use “last resort” measures to avoid winter blackouts in the next two years. The government is paying businesses to shut down at peak times so that there is enough energy for households.
Industry analysts said Didcot B’s reduced capacity would place further strain on the system if disruption continued into the winter months. Dorian Lucas, energy analyst at Inenco, said: “On top of existing closures this could result in a significantly tighter system leading into January where peak demand normally occurs.”
Didcot B is a 1.4GW power station that supplies power to about a million homes. The fire broke out in one of the site’s two cooling towers. Firefighters brought the blaze under control without anyone being injured.
Peter Atherton, energy analyst at Liberum Capital, said Britain had less spare capacity than would normally be expected for an advanced economy.
“The loss of one unit at Didcot B reduces the UK’s already meagre capacity to absorb supply shocks for this winter. Going into this winter, UK energy policy had reduced our ability to absorb unexpected events substantially.”
The fire at Didcot is the third at a fossil fuel-fired power station this year. After a blaze in February, E.ON decided not to bring back online one 370-MW unit at its Ironbridge power station in Shropshire. In July, two units at SSE’s one-gigawatt (GW) Ferrybridge coal plant in West Yorkshire were shut after a fire broke out.
EDF Energy also took two of its nuclear plants out of service in August for inspections after a fault was found.
