UK launched coal-fired power plants to generate additional electricity
The United Kingdom has launched coal-fired power plants to generate additional electricity, as the operation of solar panels has become inefficient due to hot weather, RIA Novosti reports
The news agency referred to The Telegraph as saying, “Britain has started burning coal to generate electricity for the first time in a month and a half, after the heatwave made solar panels too hot to work efficiently.”
It is also reported that a unit of the coal-fired power plant of the German energy company Uniper started working in Ratcliffe-on-Soar, and another power plant was warmed up in case of an energy shortage. According to the source, energy production at the end of last week was almost a third lower than a week earlier. The reason for the increase in demand for electricity was the frequent use of air conditioners and fans by the population due to the abnormal heat throughout the country.
Solar panels operate normally at temperature of 25°C, and efficiency decreases by 0.5 percentage points when temperature increases by 1°C above this level. The amount of energy generated also decreased due to low wind speed and the closure of gas-fired power plants for maintenance.
