Blaze fuels 'energy crunch' fears
Half of a power station supplying a million homes will remain out of action indefinitely following a fire, it was announced today - putting further pressure on the UK's squeezed electricity network.
The overnight blaze at the Didcot B site comes days before National Grid sets out its winter outlook, amid worries over how it will keep the lights on if there is an "energy crunch" with supply failing to keep pace with demand.
It also emerged over the weekend that four UK nuclear power reactors which have been shut down after a defect was discovered at one of them will only be operating at three-quarters capacity when they return to service by the end of this year.
Fire crews spray water at the scene of the fire at Didcot B Power Station
The Didcot incident is the latest blaze to hit Britain's power capacity, with Ironbridge and Ferrybridge crippled by fires earlier this year. Energy supply has also been hit by plans to close a site at Barking in east London.
Didcot B, a gas-fired station operated by RWE, the German owner of npower, can produce 1.4GW of electricity, enough to meet the needs of one million households.
A blaze broke out in one of the two cooling tower modules at the site last night, affecting 50% of the station output which was immediately shut down. RWE said the rest of the site was running normally.
But the company added: "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."
Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service said 12 of its fire engines with more than 75 firefighters were at the site at the height of the blaze, plus support from neighbouring services. It was brought under control and extinguished around midnight.
Three fire engines remained as the site was being dampened down today and firefighters were expected to remain at least until tomorrow.
The fire service and Thames Valley Police are investigating the cause of the blaze. No injuries have been reported.
Energy Secretary Ed Davey said: "I've been reassured by National Grid that there is no risk to electricity supplies."
But a spokesman for the Grid said details of the potential impact on capacity over the winter would not be set out until it publishes its seasonal outlook on October 28.
However the latest outage appears to bring closer a "last resort" scenario described by Mr Davey earlier this year to keep the lights on.
This would see factories paid to shut down in peak times and mothballed power stations being fired up to supply reserve power.
The UK is facing an energy crunch over the next two winters when the capacity margin - how much its total generating capacity outstrips expected peak demand - is expected to shrink to as little as 2%.
Meanwhile plans to bring back online the four EDF nuclear reactors that have been shut down over the summer after a defect was discovered in one of them were given a setback after the French-owned firm said they would operate at reduced capacity.
Power supplied by the reactors at Heysham 1, in Morecambe, Lancashire, and at Hartlepool account for roughly 10% of the UK's nuclear capacity, enough to supply three million homes.
EDF said on Friday that a phased return to service was still expected by the end of this year but only at 75% to 80%. Modifications needed to be able to return to full power would take place in 2015 and 2016.
In February, a fire at a unit in E.On's Ironbridge power station in Shropshire resulted in the company deciding not to reopen the affected section which was already earmarked for closure by next year.
Meanwhile SSE has said that a blaze at its coal-fired Ferrybridge power station in West Yorkshire will see one of its two units out of action until at least November 1 and the other offline until at least the end of March.
A spokesman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change said: " The lights will not go out this winter.
"Up and down the country there are power stations on stand-by 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.
"There have been some unexpected closures over the past few months and National Grid is buying some extra energy supply to make up for any shortfall.
"The Government will continue to work with National Grid and energy providers to make sure the system remains secure over the coming months."
