By Will Horner


The U.K. has stood down coal-fired power plants it had put on standby amid a cold snap but said it would continue with a plan to ease consumption Monday evening when demand is expected to be strongest.

The U.K.'s National Grid ESO confirmed it had stood down the three coal-fired power plants early Monday morning.

The electricity network operator had said late Sunday that the coal plants would be warmed up should they be needed on Monday evening when demand was expected to be high at a time when wind speeds were forecast to be lower, leading to less wind-generated power.

The National Grid said however that it would continue with a plan to pay households and businesses to reduce demand during peak hours on Monday.

The U.K. and other parts of Europe are in the grip of a cold snap that has interrupted a period of warmer-than-average winter weather. While the weather, ample supplies of stockpiled natural gas and strong imports of U.S. LNG cargoes have eased fears about a challenging supply situation this winter, Europe's energy markets remain on edge.

The U.K.'s day-ahead power prices peaked at around GBP260/MWh for Monday evening, significantly below the record high level set in December during a similar cold snap, according to data from Epex Spot exchange.

U.K. natural gas prices edged down 2.8% to 164.26 pence a therm on Monday, having fallen to 136 pence a therm--their lowest level since August--earlier this month.

The decision to put the coal power plants on standby showed "an abundance of caution," said energy consultancy EnAppSys. "Whilst [supply] looks tight, its not as bad as previous days this winter," the consultancy said in a Twitter post.


Write to Will Horner at william.horner@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-23-23 0820ET