Rugeley power stations
| Rugeley power station B | |
|---|---|
 Rugeley B power station viewed in May 2001 | |
  Location of Rugeley power station B in Staffordshire | |
| Country | England |
| Location | Rugeley |
| Coordinates | 52°45′22″N 1°54′58″W / 52.756°N 1.916°WCoordinates: 52°45′22″N 1°54′58″W / 52.756°N 1.916°W |
| Status | Operational |
| Construction began | 1970 |
| Commission date | 1970-72 |
| Decommission date | Summer 2016 |
| Owner(s) | Engie |
| Operator(s) |
|
| Thermal power station | |
| Primary fuel | Coal |
| Power generation | |
| Nameplate capacity | 1,000 MW |
|
Website www | |
| grid reference SK056177 | |
| Rugeley power station A | |
|---|---|
| Country | England |
| Location | Rugeley |
| Status | Closed |
| Construction began | 1956 |
| Commission date | 1 October 1963 |
| Operator(s) |
|
| Thermal power station | |
| Primary fuel | Coal |
| Power generation | |
| Nameplate capacity | 600 MW |
The Rugeley power stations are a series of two coal-fired power stations located on the River Trent at Rugeley in Staffordshire. The first power station on the site, Rugeley A power station was opened in 1961, but has since been closed and demolished. Rugeley B power station was commissioned in 1970 and will close in the summer of 2016. It has an output of 1,000 megawatts (MW) and has a 400 kilovolt (kV) connection to the national grid. The B station provides enough electricity to power roughly half a million homes.[1]
History
Construction of the A station started in 1956.[2] The station's generating sets were commissioned between 1961 and 1962.[3] The station was the first joint venture between the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) and the National Coal Board (NCB). The station took coal directly from the neighbouring Lea Hall Colliery by conveyor belt.[2] This was the first such arrangement in Britain. The colliery was put into production some 6 months before the first generating unit was commissioned in the power station. The station was officially opened on 1 October 1963 by Lord Robens of Woldingham and Sir Christopher Hinton.
The first of the five cooling towers to be completed at Rugeley in 1960 was the world's first large dry cooling tower, and the first large scale experiment with a design aimed at eliminating water loss.[2] On occasions this tower was used by the RAF for parachute development. Rugeley A was also the first power station in Britain to be controlled entirely from a central control room.[2] The total cost of building it was £30 million.
Construction of Rugeley B power station began in 1970, with completion of the station in 1972. With both stations in operation, 850 people were employed at the stations in 1983.[2]
The two stations were initially operated by the Central Electricity Generating Board, but following privatisation in 1990, were handed over to National Power. The Lea Hall colliery was closed on 24 January 1991, meaning all coal burned in the stations needed to be delivered by rail.[2] A couple of years later the closure of the A station began. Two of the station's generating units were decommissioned in 1994, with the other three following in 1995.[3] Having burned nearly 42 million tonnes of coal in its lifetime, the station was demolished later in 1995.[2]
In July 1996 the Rugeley B power station was bought by Eastern Generation, itself acquired by TXU Europe. Rugeley B was subsequently sold to International Power plc in July 2001.[4] It remains under the same ownership, though International Power later merged with GDF Suez in 2011.
Construction of a Flue Gas Desulfurization plant started in early 2007 and it was commissioned at the B station in 2009. This will allow the station to comply with environmental legislation and continue to generate electricity for a further 25 years or more.
146 people are currently employed in the station.[2]
In March 2012 Rugeley Power Ltd announced it would be considering a conversion to run using biomass fuel.[5] In December 2013, Rugeley Power Ltd said they have scrapped the proposed biomass conversion.[6]
In February 2016 it was announced that the power station would close in the summer of 2016. An announcement by owners, Engie blamed a deterioration in market conditions which included a fall in market prices and increasing carbon costs. The closure will result in the loss of 150 jobs
Design and specification
A station
The station had five 120 MW generating sets which gave it a generating capacity of 600 megawatts.
B station
The Rugeley B station uses two 500 MW generating sets, which can produce 8,760,000 MWh each year.[7] The station usually burns 1.6 million tonnes of coal a year, producing 240,000 tonnes of ash.[8] The station's boilers produce 1,100 tonnes of steam per hour, at a temperature of 568 degrees Celsius.[2]
Notes
- ↑ "Welcome to Rugeley Power Station". Switch on to Rugeley Power. Retrieved 2008-09-24.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Rugeley B Power Station in 360°". BBC Staffordshire. BBC. Retrieved 2008-09-24.
- 1 2 "Generation disconnections since 1991". http://www.nationalgrid.com/. 2003. Retrieved 5 October 2009. External link in
|work=(help) - ↑ Morgan, Oliver; Correspondent, Industrial. "International Power in £250m deal with TXU". the Guardian. Retrieved 2015-12-13.
- ↑ http://www.rugeleypower.com/?article=8
- ↑ http://www.expressandstar.com/business/midlands-business/2013/12/27/rugeley-power-station-plans-scrapped/
- ↑ "Electricity Generation". Switch on to Rugeley Power. Retrieved 2008-09-24.
- ↑ "Burrow Pit". Switch on to Rugeley Power. Retrieved 2008-09-24.
External links
Media related to Rugeley Power Station at Wikimedia Commons
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