Uniper Shuts U.K. Grain Power Station Due to Damage From Storm Eunice

(Bloomberg) -- German energy giant Uniper SE said it was forced to shut a U.K. power station as Storm Eunice knocked down a chimney.

The Grain facility in Kent was temporarily closed as a precaution due to “some damage” on site, the company said on its website. One of the towers at the station, which has capacity to produce about 1,378 megawatts of electricity from natural gas, collapsed earlier Friday, according to local reports.

“There are no casualties and there is no risk to the local community,” Uniper said. The company declined to comment on local reports and wouldn’t provide any additional information about the incident.

More than 370,000 homes in Britain were without power and hundreds of flights were canceled as Eunice blew unleashed chaos across London, southeast England and parts of continental Europe. The U.K.’s Met Office issued two red alerts on Friday, and while the warning level has since eased to amber, strong winds are still expected into the evening for parts of the country. 

Electricity prices plunged across Europe, with rates in Germany even turning negative for some hours of Saturday, as the powerful storm is forecast to spur record wind generation, helping to ease the strain of soaring energy costs. Day-ahead power in Germany, Europe’s biggest market, plunged 66% to its lowest level this year, while U.K. costs fell only 11%.

(Updates with power prices in last paragraph.)

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