THE National Grid cancelled a request to fire up two old coal power stations that it had put on standby today in case energy supplies were disrupted amid freezing temperatures. 

Earlier in the day, the company had asked Drax to start preparing two coal-fired units, expecting that the plants would be ready to operate between 5pm and 9pm, when demand is high. 

However, the plants at the Drax site near Selby, North Yorkshire, were later stood down by the Electricity System Operator, an arm of the National Grid.  

Britain receives electricity from continental Europe via undersea cables. The National Grid had warned that higher demand elsewhere in Europe could disrupt supplies to Britain, prompting a need to use coal-generated energy. 

Today was expected to see the highest demand so far this winter, after plummeting temperatures left large parts of the country under a blanket of snow. 

Green Party leader Zack Polanski said the initial decision to turn to coal to cope reflected government failures to invest in renewable energy and insulate the nations’ homes. 

“Falling back on a Dickensian energy source, the most polluting fuel in the world, is a result of the catastrophic failure of successive governments to supercharge our renewable energy capacity, diversify energy supply and, crucially, endlessly stalling over insulating our buildings to reduce energy use,” he said. 

“A failure to invest in insulation and renewable energy capacity, coupled with continuing to shovel subsidies at the fossil fuel industry, is a political choice, a choice that has left millions of people shivering in their homes this winter, afraid to turn on or turn up their heating.”

Greenpeace UK's chief scientist Doug Parr said: "Having to put coal fired power stations on standby is the last place any self-respecting country that cares about climate change would want to find itself.

“Keeping the lights on with coal now would be an emergency measure, but it’s one the government must work with urgency to avoid.

"Policies to reduce energy wastage and investment in new technologies like clean hydrogen and liquid air storage can steadily replace polluting fossil fuels and stop us from reaching such a critical point in future.

"It would also mean energy security concerns would be hugely reduced and coal fired power stations could be decommissioned for good.”