U.K. Keadby Gas-Fired Plant Comes out of Retirement

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--More than two years after being mothballed due to weak electricity prices, the 717-megawatt (MW) Keadby gas-fired power plant in England is being been brought back online to help the U.K. combat a record low of spare generation capacity going into winter.

The owner of the plant, Scottish utility SSE plc (Perth, Scotland), said the North Lincolnshire plant will restart this week after five months of work designed to bring it out of "deep mothballing." Late last year, the plant was successful in the country's first Capacity Market Auction by securing a contract to provide capacity to 2018-19.

Paul Smith, SSE managing director for generation, said: "Today's news means the government and the National Grid have more capacity with which to power people's homes this winter. The station has undergone extensive upgrades, meaning it can operate with improved flexibility in the market. SSE maintains a flexible and diverse fleet of generation assets, which we see as the best way of playing our part when it comes to keeping the lights on. It is also great news that we've been able to bring across some 21 employees from Ferrybridge, as we respond to changing market conditions and the challenge of reducing carbon emissions."

In May this year, SSE said it would shut its 2,000-MW, coal-fired power plant at Ferrybridge in West Yorkshire, England, by the end of March 2016. It blamed rising costs, falling profits and stricter environmental rules for its decision. The closure of the 48-year-old plant would result in the loss of 172 jobs.

It is one a number of plant closures in the past couple of years that has seen the country's spare capacity fall to record lows. In July, grid operator, National Grid, warned that spare capacity this winter will stand at just 1.2%, the lowest in 10 years. For additional information, see July 23, 2015, article - U.K. Risks Winter Blackouts as Power Stations Close.

In September, Energetický a Průmyslový Holding (EPH) (Prague), the Czech owners of the 2,000-MW Eggborough coal-fired power plant in England, confirmed that it would cease generating power at the end of March 2016, with the potential loss of about 240 jobs and 4% of the country's base electricity. For additional information, see September 9, 2015, article - Closure Looms for U.K.'s Eggborough Coal- Fired Plant.

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