UK can cope with British Energy power glitches:
Spreading problems at nuclear power stations run by the UK's biggest generator British Energy mean gas and coal fired plants will have to work harder this winter but there is no serious threat to power supplies. "There is still quite a lot of spare capacity for this winter," Andrew Lind of Poyry Energy Consulting said. "It's not dire for the country although it is unfortunate for British Energy (BE)." BE, which produces about a fifth of the UK's power, said on Monday it was preparing to shut two reactors after finding cracked pipes at similar units at Hinkley Point in south-west England and Hunterston in Scotland. Power prices in forward markets rallied after BE said it would need to buy electricity on the open market to cover for lost production. BE also warned of possible prolonged maintenance outages at two reactors in Hartlepool, north-east England, and possible closures at another two reactors at Heysham in Lancashire. The added threat that its Dungeness B power plant in Kent could remain out of action all winter, because of fuel system problems, compounded the company's problems. BE's woes threatened to overshadow Monday's official opening of a new gas import pipeline from Norway, designed to counter rapidly declining output from Britain's ageing North Sea fields and help bring down soaring energy bills.National Grid said the power system could absorb losses of production by BE, and still maintain a healthy 18 percent margin of spare supply. Before the full extent of British Energy's problems were made public on Monday, National Grid forecast a supply cushion of 22 percent for this winter. Stewart Gray, an analyst at consultants Wood Mackenzie, said the margin might get tighter in a cold spell. "I think that the worst case is that you could be looking at that coming down to 12 percent," he said. "Which doesn't sound comfortable." Poyry's Lind said supplies still looked comfortable, even considering British Energy's problems. "There will, nevertheless, be a comfortable margin for this winter," he said. Gray said gas demand was likely to increase as gas-fired power plants boost output to make up for the drop in nuclear output. "We are going to need more gas," he said. Analysts said that while the supply cushion may be comfortable this winter, rising demand and the closure of ageing nuclear power plants will lead to tighter margins in years to come. All but one of the UK's nuclear plants are scheduled to close by the early 2020s. " 19.10.06