Killingholme Gas Power Plant Taken Off Grid

By Paul Homewood  

 

h/t AC Osborn

 

http://www.energylivenews.com/2015/03/19/e-on-withdraws-gas-power-plant-from-grid/

 

Hard on the news that the Longannet coal fired power station will close next year, there is another blow to the UK’s energy security.

E.ON have announced that they are withdrawing their 900MW gas power station from the UK grid. Energy Live News report:

 

E.ON has announced its Killingholme CCGT plant will no longer contribute to grid capacity.

The gas power station on the banks of the Humber estuary has 900MW of Transmission Entry Capacity (TEC) which will now no longer be available to National Grid. E.ON has also said the power station is at serious risk of permanent closure, subject to the outcome of an ongoing tender for National Grid’s Supplemental Balancing Reserve (SBR) service.

E.ON UK Chief Executive, Tony Cocker, said: “First and foremost we are focused on supporting our colleagues who are potentially affected by this change and will work closely with them in the coming weeks and months to ensure the best possible options are available on an individual level.

“The reality, however, is that the market conditions for gas-fired power stations are extremely difficult and without support from the SBR contract, permanent closure is a real and present risk to Killingholme. Over the last few years we have invested billions in the UK’s energy infrastructure but there is no doubt that the challenging operational environment continues to provide uncertainty and risk that must be addressed.”

Killingholme, which was entered into the recent UK Capacity Market Auction but was unsuccessful, is a Combined Cycle Gas Turbine comprising two 450MW modules.

Approximately 50 people in total are employed at the North Lincolnshire site. E.ON have not ruled out redundancy as a possibility if the SBR tender is unsuccessful.

 

Gas power stations are finding it difficult to compete against subsidised renewables and cheap coal, and not only in the UK. Intermittent operation simply does not cover costs, without a guarantee of payment for back up capacity under the Capacity Market Mechanism.

The dilemma is that as coal power stations and old nuclear are removed from the mix in the next 5 to 10 years, and as wind power capacity rapidly expands, the need for dozens of new gas fired power stations becomes ever more pressing.

What chance is there of these being built when existing ones, with their capital costs already paid for, can’t afford to stay operational? As one commenter on the website puts it:

 

Yet again, as increasingly these days, raving lunatics running the asylum. In May the choice will be between madmen and nut cases on present showing. 

Heaven help us all! 

 

 

UPDATE

Stewgreen reminds us that C.Gen are, by coincidence, building a 470MW gas power plant next door to Killingholme. Details here.

What is interesting is this statement from C.Gen:

"The UK’s future energy generation capacity is currently uncertain with 18GW of existing plant due to close by 2020, including a third of the country’s existing coal-fired power plants, which have provided over 40 per cent of the UK’s energy generation in the recent cold winters. “

 

DECC’s latest figures for total UK generating capacity, based on 2013, is 85GW, so 18GW is a hefty slice.