Britain's National grid is to test coal-fired power units as a cold snap continues

The UK's National Grid is to test a coal-fired power generation unit in the run-up to an increase in power supplies this winter. On Friday, a unit of Drax Group, the UK power producer, will be switched on and generating up to 300 megawatts of power, also to test whether the equipment will work properly when needed. Temperatures in the UK have plummeted to -6C, according to the Met Office, and the cold weather is set to continue into the weekend.

On Monday, National Grid asked Drax to test two coal-fired units, but this was put on hold ahead of the evening peak in power demand. The UK is grappling with shrinking spare capacity while electricity prices have soared to record levels. This week it cost grid operators more than £27m ($33.4m) a day just to keep the lights on, using expensive gas-fired power stations.