Killingholme Power Station

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Killinholme Power Station is the name given to two combined cycle natural gas power stations near to East Halton and North Killingholme in in the UK. Killigholme B (900 MW) opened in 1993, and Killingholme A (665 MW) opened in 1994.

The power station is also the site of the proposed North Killingholme power station, which had initially been proposed as a coal plant with carbon capture, but will be built as a gas plant.

Location

The undated satellite photo below shows the power station in Killinghome.

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Gas plants

Killigholme A

The 665 MW gas plant uses three Alstom 145MW gas turbines,[1] and was owned by Centrica.[2]

The plant opened in 1994 and was operated by National Power until 2000 when it was bought by NRG Energy for £390 million. It was then purchased in 2003 by a consortium of twenty banks when NRG got into financial difficulty[3] and was then bought by Centrica in July 2004 for £142 million.[4]

In early 2014 Centrica began to seek buyers for a number of its gas power plants, including its South Humber and Killingholme plants,[5] and in early 2015 began discussion on the closure of the plant, having received no acceptable bids for the plant.[6]

In December 2015 Centrica confirmed that Killingholme power station will close on 1st March 2016.[7]

On 6 December 2016 C.GEN bought the mothballed Killingholme A and said it plans to use the land to develop its North Killingholme power station.[8]

Killigholme B

The E.ON UK plant consists of two 450 MW Siemens V94.2 gas turbine modules. Gas is supplied from a 26 mile pipeline from Theddlethorpe.[9]

When it was built by Powergen (now called E.ON UK) and opened in April 1993 it was only the second gas-fired power station built in the UK. It was taken out of service in 2002 due to the lower price of electricity and was then restored to full service in August 2005,[10] with one of the 450 MW units returning to service in April 2005.

In June 2015 E.ON UK announced Killigholme B is to be closed.[11]

Proposed power station

E.ON UK

A 450 megawatt coal gasification project proposed by E.ON UK was to be built at the site of the existing Killingholme Power Station.

In a March 2007 media release E.ON referred to the company having a 3 billion pound investment plan including a "new £1bn cleaner coal-fired units" at Killingholme as well as a "feasibility study into a world-leading clean coal power station at Killingholme."[12] The month before the company had stated that it was "carrying out a feasibility study into an integrated gasification combined cycle power station (where coal is gasified and hydrogen becomes the fuel used to generate electricity) at Killingholme."[13]

In 2008 the project was reported as being on hold.[14]

North Killingholme IGCC Project

The North Killingholme IGCC Project is a proposed carbon capture and storage power station by C.GEN to be built near the existing gas-fired Killingholme Power Station in Kent, England.

In March 2011 project sponsor C.GEN stated that the plant being studied would have an installed capacity of 520 megawatts with possible fuels varying from coal to a blend of "unconventional hard coal", petcoke and wood/biomass or as a pure gas-fired project. In a presentation on the project, C.GEN stated that it owns land adjoining the existing Killingholme power station. The company stated in early 2011 that Parsons-Brinkerhof "started permitting procedure 2010" and that in February 2011 it had filed an application to the European Union's New Entrant Reserve scheme for funding proposed CCS projects. The company claims that the project could be in "commercial operation" by 2015-2016.[15] In March 2011 a pre-feasibility study for the project was completed.[16]

As of 2014 the company describes the project as a 470 MW IGCC plant that would capture around 2.5 million tonnes per annum of carbon dioxide by 2019.[16] The project is currently being considered for a Development Consent Order, a process summarized by the company as follows:[17]

Under Section 31 of the Planning Act 2008 (PA 2008) a Development Consent Order is required to authorise a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP). In England, an onshore electricity generating station is considered to be a NSIP if the generating capacity is more than 50 MWe. North Killingholme Power Project is 470 MW, so it is a NSIP.
Development consent for a NSIP (and associated development) may only be granted by a DCO following an application under Section 37 of the PA 2008 (as amended by the Localism Act 2011). In certain circumstances an application for a DCO needs to be accompanied by an Environmental Statement. North Killingholme Power Project requires an Environmental Statement to accompany the DCO.

A recommendation was made in June 2014 to the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, and a decision will be announced in September 2014.[17]

New plant with CCS approved

In September 2014 the UK Government approved C.GEN’s plans to build a 470MW power station, complete with CCS technology. C.GEN has yet to decide whether the plant will operate as a Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) or as an Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) plant. The plant will use either natural gas or hydrogen rich gas as fuel, and will comprise a gas turbine, a steam turbine, a heat recovery steam generator, and carbon capture equipment. The CO2 stream will be transported via a 130km onshore pipeline and a 90km offshore pipeline for storage in a saline aquifer in the Southern North Sea. C.GEN is targeting 2016-2017 for commercial operation to begin and 2020 for sequestration.[18][19]

C.GEN owns the land which the power plant will be built upon but C.GEN will need to acquire additional land to construct a connection to the gas supply network and the electricity transmission network. It will also require land for arrangements to secure the supply of fuel to the plant.[20]

CCS project shelved due to lack of funds

The Killingholme CCS project would use the CO2 pipeline proposed by National Grid for the White Rose CCS Project.[21] An investment decision on White Rose is expected in 2016.[22]

However, in November 2015 the UK Government confirmed that the £1 billion capital budget for the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Competition was no longer available. White Rose finance director Richard Simon-Lewis said: "We are now in transition to closure mode."[23] In April 2016 UK energy secretary Amber Rudd refused development consent for the White Rose CCS project, as Capture Power had itself conceded there are “no contingent funds to cover the absence of these government-sourced funds” and that no alternative sources of funding had been identified.[24]

Plant to be fueled by gas

On 6 December 2016 C.GEN bought the neighbouring Centrica Killingholme ‘A’ power station, which is situated on land adjacent to the C.GEN project site. C.GEN said it had obtained development consent to build a 470MW Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) power station on the south bank of the Humber Estuary, and intends to bid the gas plant into the December 2017 Capacity Market auction.[25] The gas plant is planned for commissioning in 2021.[26]

Project Details of proposed North Killingholme Coal Project

  • Sponsor: C.GEN
  • Parent company:
  • Developer: Centrica Energy
  • Location: Killingholme, Yorkshire, UK
  • Coordinates: 53.657, -0.255 (approximate)
  • Status: Cancelled (will be built as a gas plant)
  • Capacity: 470 MW
  • Type: IGCC with carbon capture and storage
  • Start date:
  • Coal Type:
  • Coal Source:
  • Source of financing:

Articles and Resources

Sources

  1. ↑ Killingholme. Centrica.
  2. ↑ Centrica boosts generation capacity with Killingholme acquisition. Centrica.
  3. ↑ Gas Turbine and Combined-Cycle Power Plants in East England & the Midlands.
  4. ↑ "Power station sold in £142m deal", BBC News (2004-06-08). Retrieved on 2010-05-07. 
  5. ↑ "Centrica selling off two South Humber power stations", Scunthorpe Telegraph (8 May 2014). Retrieved on 8 August 2015. 
  6. ↑ "Third jobs bombshell: Centrica describes closure of two power stations as ‘difficult decision’", Grimsby Telegraph (20 February 2015). Retrieved on 8 August 2015. 
  7. ↑ "Centrica confirms closure date for Killingholme power station," Centrica, Dec 14, 2015
  8. ↑ "North Killingholme Power Project," C.GEN, accessed May 2017
  9. ↑ Killingholme. E.ON UK.
  10. ↑ E.ON UK’s Killingholme Power Station returns to full service in world first. E.ON UK.
  11. ↑ E.ON UK announces closure of Killingholme Power Station. E.ON UK. Retrieved on 8 August 2015.
  12. ↑ E.ON UK, "E.ON and Lunar Energy to build one of the world’s largest tidal stream power stations", Media Release, March 15, 2007.
  13. ↑ E.ON Uk, "E.ON UK researches future of coal at Nottinghamshire test facility", Media Release, February 15, 2007.
  14. ↑ James Richens, "King coal promises to clean up", ENDS Report 396, January 2008, pp 26-29.
  15. ↑ C.GEN, "C.GEN North Killingholme Power Project", accessed March 15, 2011.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 C.GEN, "Project Killingholme", CGEN website, accessed September 2014.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Planning," C.GEN website, accessed July 2014
  18. ↑ "Green light for North Killingholme power plant," EIC, 19 September, 2014
  19. ↑ "C.GEN North Killingholme Power Project," Global CCS Institute, updated 9/7/2014
  20. ↑ "Killingholme Project Fact Sheet: Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage Project," CCST, MIT, updated Jan 25, 2016
  21. ↑ "Killingholme Project Fact Sheet: Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage Project," CCST, MIT, updated Jan 5, 2015
  22. ↑ "White Rose CCS Project," Global CCS Institute, updated 7/5/2015
  23. ↑ "CCS SCHEME CLOSURE NEARS," Insider Media, 22 Jan 2016
  24. ↑ "Energy secretary refuses planning consent for White Rose CCS scheme," Utility Week, 19/04/2016
  25. ↑ "North Killingholme Power Project," C.GEN, accessed May 2017
  26. ↑ "£250m new power station at North Killingholme aims to generate in 2021," Grimsby Telegraph, March 24, 2017

Related SourceWatch Articles

External Articles

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