UK Grid Tests Reserve Coal-Fed Power Unit as Cold Snap Persists

The UK’s National Grid Plc will run a test of one of the country’s coal-fired power generators that’s being kept in reserve to boost supplies this winter.

A Drax Group Plc unit will start up and generate as much as 300 megawatts on Friday as the grid operator checks that contingency tools are ready and working if needed. Temperatures plummeted to -6C (21F) overnight in Britain and will remain “very cold” until the weekend, according to the Met Office.