UK to finish with Coal Power

Just waiting for tomorrows Tory rag headlines, Labour force 100s more on the dole after taking away their jobs. Which I expect a few will share on here as all Starmers fault. 😁
 
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Glover_elbow said:
Unfortunately the companies running these windfarms are not British.
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I was going to post the same.

Our governments give contracts to foreign countries, like China, to build these wind farms etc. Then guarantee a selling price per unit. It's the paying public who get screwed over again.

Why we can't just invest ourselves. For the price of, say HS2, we could easily build enough wind farms to power half the country.
 
I remember going down a coal mine soon after I left school which left me feeling in no doubt they should be all shutdown, not just because of the environmental issues but also because of the incredible risks people had to take to dig out the coal.

So many people have died in mines — it still goes on today especially in the likes of US, China where coal is still being extracted in huge quantities. Of course there’s better technologies today used for coal extraction and coal burning but it still leaves scars on the people who have to work with it. I was upset to learn of the recent mining tragedy in Iran where 51 lost their lives.

The negative end result of ending our reliance on fossil fuels is probably higher fuel costs. But surely the positive surely has to be we save lives and promote safer ways to work. Ultimately I think we’re heading in the right direction with renewables and nuclear power generation.
 
The_Tiler said:
I was going to post the same.

Our governments give contracts to foreign countries, like China, to build these wind farms etc. Then guarantee a selling price per unit. It's the paying public who get screwed over again.

Why we can't just invest ourselves. For the price of, say HS2, we could easily build enough wind farms to power half the country.
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Microgen the easy way around that.

Anyone with a roof big enough, install solar and a battery and your usage drops down massively, many even turn a profit by charging batteries cheaply on time of use tariffs and running the house off solar during the day, batteries after that and selling any excess back to the grid.
 
SilentProf said:
Gas is next. Hopefully by 2030 but I expect it to take a bit longer. That’s when the real benefits will be reflected in energy prices.
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NZ is nearly 100% hydro and wind generation, with coal only used if the lake levels are low and the wind isn't blowing. Electricity prices are through the roof. Don't hold your breath!
 
What's the cost of solar panels, installation, batteries,inverters etc? Rougb average, and idea? Pay ba kovef how many years? Anggrant support?
 
I was reading earlier that the NYMR is converting two of its steam locomotives to oil burning, in a move away from coal. Seems a funny thing really to “modernise” a 100 year old preserved locomotive. I see the benefit mind.
 
SilentProf said:
Gas is the reason electricity costs what it does. Once we have enough from renewables to cut off gas generators, prices will drop to the cost of producing energy from nuclear power.View attachment 81772
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But this doesn't use the true cost of renewables.

A few days ago Kincardine Offshore Wind farm Limited published their results. To the year ended 31 December 2023 they generated 144,493 MWh and received revenue of £13,347,832 which equates to £92.37/MWh.
When you consider wholesale electricity probably averaged about £100/MWh for 2023 then it does look like this renewable supply was cheaper than gas generated electricity but when you add in the ROC revenue of £31,361,367 or £217/MWh it is clear that it was actually very expensive.
It is in the interest of renewable generators to sell in cheap to the market as the ROCs they receive are based on the the MWh they supply.
 
When Drax was coal fired it was serviced by about six or seven trains of coal a day. These were brought in from the nearby collieries of South and North Yorkshire. Now it is fired by biomass, there are over twenty diesel hauled trains into site six days a week. They come from Hull, Immingham, Liverpool and Newcastle ports. Not entirely environmentally friendly.
 
Maccarone said:
What's the cost of solar panels, installation, batteries,inverters etc? Rougb average, and idea? Pay ba kovef how many years? Anggrant support?
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We had a 4.2kw system installed on our garage roof as we could get more on that than the house roof. Cost about £5k with inverter, didn't bother with a battery as we get 15p for every kwh sent back to the grid which on sunny days offsets the cost of what we would have stored/used overnight. Our bills over summer were about £30 a month for gas/electric so we've built up a decent buffer for winter.
 
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