E.ON Shutting Kent Oil-fired Power Plant

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) -- E.ON has announced that it is mothballing the oil-fired, Grain-A power plant on the Isle of Grain, Kent, in south-east England.

The company, a subsidiary of German energy major E.ON AG (OTC:EONGY) (Dusseldorf, Germany), cited the changing energy landscape, stricter emissions controls, falling demand and the shift towards cleaner and more efficient forms of energy. The 33-year old Grain-A plant has a generating capacity of 1,380-megawatts (MW) but has not generated any electricity over the past two years. E.ON said that the plant's role of providing back-up electricity to keep the grid balanced in times of system stress had been taken over by more modern gas-fired plants.

In July last year, the company started full commercial operations at a new gas-fired, combined heat and power plant on the Isle of Grain site. The company fired up the third combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) unit at the 1,275-megawatt (MW) power plant, which cost €563 million ($816 million) to complete. French company Alstom (FRA:ALO) (Paris, France) provided three of its GT26 turbines for the project, alongside STFC30C reheat steam turbines connected on a single shaft to a hydrogen-cooled TOPGAS generator and a HRSG. For additional information see July 27, 2011, article - E.ON Fires Up Isle of Grain Power Plant.

"Today's announcement concerning Grain-A is not just about closing a power station, it's also about saying thank you to the hundreds of people who worked there over the past 33 years to make sure that it could play its part in keeping the lights on," said Tony Cocker, Chief Executive of E.ON U.K.. "As this corner of Kent demonstrates, how we generate the electricity we all need is changing. Oil-fired Grain-A and our coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth are both set to close under LCPD rules but just next-door we have our brand-new super-efficient gas-fired combined heat and power station and, not far from the Kent coast, we're a key partner in the ongoing development of the world's largest offshore wind-farm, London Array."

Earlier this year, E.ON announced that its 1,940 MW Kingsnorth coal-fired power plant in Kent, England, is to shut almost two years earlier than expected to comply with European Union (E.U.) emissions rules. For additional information, see March 13, 2012, article - E.ON Shutting U.K. Kingsnorth Coal-fired Plant.

"The whole system is changing and needs to transform to one of greater efficiency, lower carbon intensity and cost-effective back-up capacity," Cocker added. "We're continuing to invest in almost every corner of the country, both in generation and in helping our customers to reduce energy waste. The Government's draft Energy Bill is a step in the right direction, but must be kept simple, must provide a system-wide solution and deliver quickly."

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