Ratcliffe Power Station

[I__]

It looks like Ratcliffe Power Station is now taking deliveries again?...



https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:H41576/2023-11-17/detailed

 

[Freightmaster]

It looks like Ratcliffe Power Station is now taking deliveries again?...

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:H41576/2023-11-17/detailed

Correct - it normally starts starts restocking at this time of year, just before everyone puts their
Christmas tree lights on!


MARK

 

[edwin_m]

Judging by the clouds visible out of the window, it's definitely running today.

 

[mac]

According to national grid at 1755 today coal was producing 3.8% of our power

 

[brad465]

According to national grid at 1755 today coal was producing 3.8% of our power

IIRC Ratcliffe is the only coal power station left in the UK (due to close next Autumn), so all of that coal power is coming from there.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Its been in daily use for weeks now even on days with decent wind output and clearly NG has indicated they need it to be available for several months yet to have committed to buying in further coal in advance of its mandated closure in Sept 2024. Of course govt could follow Germany and allow further limited extensions given that gas is more precarious since Ukraine so need to maintain additional diversity.

 

[dk1]

Good to hear. I do miss the whole coal fired power stations and MGR thing.

 

[sharpley]

I work near Ratcliffe. Its been operational most days for several months now. Guess their making the most of it whilst wholesale gas prices are high.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 Nov 2023 ==

According to national grid at 1755 today coal was producing 3.8% of our power

Ratcliffe can output about 2GW onto the grid at full capacity I believe

 

[Skymonster]

What a tragedy it’s being forced to shut down next year - leaving the country to rely on unreliable natural sources or imported energy generating material (yes, yes, I know someone is going to say “foreign coal”). The sooner the nation becomes energy independent the better - and if that means digging more coal or drilling for more North Sea gas so be it.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

What a tragedy it’s being forced to shut down next year - leaving the country to rely on unreliable natural sources or imported energy generating material (yes, yes, I know someone is going to say “foreign coal”). The sooner the nation becomes energy independent the better - and if that means digging more coal or drilling for more North Sea gas so be it.

Build 10 nukes.

 

[dk1]

Build 10 nukes.

That’ll take another 20 years to get through with the way this country pampers to public opinion.

 

[Mat17]

What a tragedy it’s being forced to shut down next year - leaving the country to rely on unreliable natural sources or imported energy generating material (yes, yes, I know someone is going to say “foreign coal”). The sooner the nation becomes energy independent the better - and if that means digging more coal or drilling for more North Sea gas so be it.

100% agree.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Nov 2023 ==

Build 10 nukes.

Nuclear is the only viable option really that can generate the ever growing levels of energy required.

 

[xotGD]

Nuclear is the only viable option really that can generate the ever growing levels of energy required.

Baseload, not dispatchable.

Thermal plants have the advantage of being able to respond to changing demand. Hence plans for new build CCGT with carbon capture.

New build coal with carbon capture was previously proposed, but seems to be ruled out now in the UK.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Baseload, not dispatchable.

I totally agree.

 

[nw1]

Its been in daily use for weeks now even on days with decent wind output and clearly NG has indicated they need it to be available for several months yet to have committed to buying in further coal in advance of its mandated closure in Sept 2024. Of course govt could follow Germany and allow further limited extensions given that gas is more precarious since Ukraine so need to maintain additional diversity.

I'd tend to agree. Coal is not an ideal fuel but with the situation in Ukraine the way it is, it seems folly right now to close down any power stations that do not rely on materials bought from Putin.

 

[QueensCurve]

Its been in daily use for weeks now even on days with decent wind output and clearly NG has indicated they need it to be available for several months yet to have committed to buying in further coal in advance of its mandated closure in Sept 2024. Of course govt could follow Germany and allow further limited extensions given that gas is more precarious since Ukraine so need to maintain additional diversity.

Cutting the green crap!

 

[40C]

I suspect that the latest batch of coal is being unloaded from the bulk carrier SIVOTA which arrived at Immingham on the 15th, and had departed Newcastle, Australia, on the 26th September, with a call at Rotterdam.

 

[AlterEgo]

Build 10 nukes.

We should have started that in the 90s.

 

[brad465]

We should have started that in the 90s.

Or like the French, after the 1973 oil crisis, France being the only country who seemed to learn anything from that episode of history. I think the planning and approval stages need cutting down considerably as well (for all energy infrastructure); Blair initiated plans for multiple new nuclear power stations in 2006, but over 4 years later the coalition was able to scrap them (apart from Hinkley Point C, but even that wasn't confirmed for years). Had it been possible to get it through the courts and other hurdles in a year at most and then construction underway soon after, I doubt there'd have been much any other government could have done to stop them.

 

[70014IronDuke]

Its been in daily use for weeks now even on days with decent wind output and clearly NG has indicated they need it to be available for several months yet to have committed to buying in further coal in advance of its mandated closure in Sept 2024. Of course govt could follow Germany and allow further limited extensions given that gas is more precarious since Ukraine so need to maintain additional diversity.

They should have thought about this even before Ukraine. The whole idea of getting totally rid of coal when they first announced it was nuts. Of course, it's great to be aware of NOx and Co2 emissions and aim to reduce them, but they should keep at least three coal-fired plants across the country as part of the diversity and to retain the engineering knowledge.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

We are so short sighted in this country.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

They should have thought about this even before Ukraine. The whole idea of getting totally rid of coal when they first announced it was nuts. Of course, it's great to be aware of NOx and Co2 emissions and aim to reduce them, but they should keep at least three coal-fired plants across the country as part of the diversity and to retain the engineering knowledge.

Ratcliffe only one physically left. West Burton being dismantled and Drax converting its last two coal units to wood pellets which produce more CO2 at source than coal but dont worry in a 100 years the trees they've planted will have absorbed it all!!

 

[70014IronDuke]

We are so short sighted in this country.

When I take over the country, one of the first laws my government will pass is that the cabinet must contain as many ministers with engineering degrees as those with economics, law and politics BAs/MAs sitting around the table.

Any PM failing to comply will be shot by firing squad, publicly, outside Number 10 Downing Street, within 24 hours of his/her oversight. Pour encourage les autres.

 

[brad465]

We are so short sighted in this country.

In our short term election cycles it's much easier to close something down than get approval and deliver on new infrastructure, as I mentioned further above, even getting approval for something can take 1 Parliament to deliver, let alone actually building it.

 

[dangie]

We are so short sighted in this country.

It’s not so much we are short sighted, it’s more we are governed by accountants.

 

[eldomtom2]

When I take over the country, one of the first laws my government will pass is that the cabinet must contain as many ministers with engineering degrees as those with economics, law and politics BAs/MAs sitting around the table.

Any PM failing to comply will be shot by firing squad, publicly, outside Number 10 Downing Street, within 24 hours of his/her oversight. Pour encourage les autres.

But who's to say those ministers with engineering degrees will agree with your opinions on power generation?

 

[najaB]

Build 10 nukes.

I wasn't aware we had significant uranium deposits?

 

[Ediswan]

I wasn't aware we had significant uranium deposits?

Try Cornwall.
https://www.thepenzanceconvention.com/wp-content/uploads/Invisibles_formatted.pdf

Uranium is one of the rarer metals to be extracted in Cornwall. The most common uranium mineral is the
oxide uraninite (or pitchblende), and there are a number of exotic secondary uranium minerals such as
zippeite, coffinite, torbernite, and zeunerite.

 

[najaB]

Try Cornwall.

Hence the key word 'significant'. There is uranium there, but it's at such low concentrations that it really wouldn't make any sense going after them - the money and effort expended could be better used on solar, wind or tidal power instead.

 

[JamesT]

I wasn't aware we had significant uranium deposits?

We don’t, does that matter? We can buy it from Canada and Australia amongst other countries.