Two nuclear stations that play a vital role helping to keep Britain's already fragile electricity system intact could be out of action till the end of the year, EDF Energy said on Thursday.
The ongoing problems at Heysham 1 and Hartlepool reactors, taken offline last month, forced Centrica, a 20% owner of the atomic fleet with EDF, to issue a profit warning.
EDF Energy said it expected the two power stations to be back in service between the end of October and the end of December but that would be contingent on a range of factors.
"During the coming weeks the programme team will focus on completing the inspections and work to build a robust case for the safe continuing operation of the boilers," the company said.
"This 'safety case' is subject to approval from the independent nuclear regulator, the ONR (Office for Nuclear Regulation)."
The power outages following the discovery of a fault on a boiler "spine" at Heysham 1 have already led the National Grid to fast-forward an emergency plan to obtain more electricity from other providers to meet a possible shortfall.
The Heysham 1 and Hartlepool nuclear plants have a combined capacity of about 2.4 gigawatts (GW) and are out of action at a time when part of the 2GW Ferrybridge coal-fired station is also temporarily closed down due to a fire.
The margin between supply and demand inside UK's electricity system is already very low due to the retirement of old nuclear and coal plants.
EDF Energy operates 15 nuclear reactors in Britain but its other reactors have a different boiler design and the company said it did not see a risk of them suffering from the same fault.
Centrica, the owner of British Gas, issued its third profits alert within nine months, saying: "On the basis of the latest estimates for returning the reactors to service, and the associated costs, Centrica's earnings per share in 2014 are now expected to reduce by between 0.6 and 0.9 pence per share (inclusive of the 0.3 pence per share announced on 11 August 2014)."
Earlier this week, the National Grid said it was officially bringing forward by a year a scheme to tap additional capacity to cope with closures of nuclear, gas, coal and oil power stations and unexpected plant repairs.
"At this stage we don't know if these reserve services will be needed, but they could provide an additional safeguard," said National Grid's director of UK market operation, Cordi O'Hara.
theguardian.com
The ongoing problems at Heysham 1 and Hartlepool reactors, taken offline last month, forced Centrica, a 20% owner of the atomic fleet with EDF, to issue a profit warning.
EDF Energy said it expected the two power stations to be back in service between the end of October and the end of December but that would be contingent on a range of factors.
"During the coming weeks the programme team will focus on completing the inspections and work to build a robust case for the safe continuing operation of the boilers," the company said.
"This 'safety case' is subject to approval from the independent nuclear regulator, the ONR (Office for Nuclear Regulation)."
The power outages following the discovery of a fault on a boiler "spine" at Heysham 1 have already led the National Grid to fast-forward an emergency plan to obtain more electricity from other providers to meet a possible shortfall.
The Heysham 1 and Hartlepool nuclear plants have a combined capacity of about 2.4 gigawatts (GW) and are out of action at a time when part of the 2GW Ferrybridge coal-fired station is also temporarily closed down due to a fire.
The margin between supply and demand inside UK's electricity system is already very low due to the retirement of old nuclear and coal plants.
EDF Energy operates 15 nuclear reactors in Britain but its other reactors have a different boiler design and the company said it did not see a risk of them suffering from the same fault.
Centrica, the owner of British Gas, issued its third profits alert within nine months, saying: "On the basis of the latest estimates for returning the reactors to service, and the associated costs, Centrica's earnings per share in 2014 are now expected to reduce by between 0.6 and 0.9 pence per share (inclusive of the 0.3 pence per share announced on 11 August 2014)."
Earlier this week, the National Grid said it was officially bringing forward by a year a scheme to tap additional capacity to cope with closures of nuclear, gas, coal and oil power stations and unexpected plant repairs.
"At this stage we don't know if these reserve services will be needed, but they could provide an additional safeguard," said National Grid's director of UK market operation, Cordi O'Hara.
theguardian.com
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