A vacant land at South Humber Bank Power Station will see the arrival of a new multi-million pound energy centre. Set to create around 50 new jobs, the £300 million facility would generate 49.9MW of electrical power, which is the equivalent to supporting around 500,000 homes. The planning application for
Confident that Horizon will be able to adhere to the previously stated timeline for construction at Wylfa, Alan Raymant, Chief Operating Officer, has openly expressed his views to the Welsh Affairs committee, pushing some of the key doubts associated with EDF’s Somerset project aside and clarifying his confidence. The Hinkley
Law firm, Bircham Dyson Bell has reported that the UK faces what it describes as a “looming energy crunch” owing to the predicted loss of 25GW of generating capacity by 2030. The report highlighted the closure of 18 major power stations since 2012, representing a reduction of the UK’s total
A vacant land at South Humber Bank Power Station will see the arrival of a new multi-million pound energy centre. Set to create around 50 new jobs, the £300 million facility would generate 49.9MW of electrical power, which is the equivalent to supporting around 500,000 homes. The planning application for the scheme has been submitted by EP UK Investments Ltd (EPUKI), which owns and operates South Humber Bank Power Station. The application was validated in December by North East Lincolnshire Council and a decision is due to be made by the end of March. “We are very pleased to announce the proposed development of an Energy Centre at the South Humber Bank Power Station and it follows the completion of our recent £53 million investment in the existing site,” said James Crankshaw, head of engineering at EPUKI. “The project is not dependent on securing a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) or other form of secured income such as a Contract For Difference (CFD) as other EFW projects have required and, as such, EPUKI expect to progress to the construction phase soon after planning is approved,” he added. If the planning permission is granted, the South Humber Bank Energy Centre will be powered by approximately 620,000 tonnes of refuse-derived fuel annually. “The Energy Centre will provide much needed new power generation and energy recovery facilities, as well as creating permanent local jobs. We look forward to working with the planning authority and local community over the coming months,” James concluded. A subsidiary of Europe’s seventh biggest power generator EPH, EPUKI aquired in 2017 2.2GW of combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power stations from energy giant Centrica. Moreover, the firm put plans in place last year to boost its portfolio further by commissioning a new 420MW biomass power station at Lynemouth, Northumberland. EPUKI also has development consent to deliver up to 4.2GW of new build CCGTs in Eggborough and King’s Lynn.
Confident that Horizon will be able to adhere to the previously stated timeline for construction at Wylfa, Alan Raymant, Chief Operating Officer, has openly expressed his views to the Welsh Affairs committee, pushing some of the key doubts associated with EDF’s Somerset project aside and clarifying his confidence. The Hinkley Point project came under scrutiny following the reported resignation of Thomas Piquemal, its Finance Director after an apparent quarrel over the decision made by EDF to continue on with a decision on a final investment next month. His reasons, as might be expected, highlighted his views that this decision may place the company in a position of severe financial concern. However, regardless of the delays being incurred on EDF’s project, Alan Raymant is adamant that this will have no bearing on the timetable arranged for Horizon, highlighting that, while the Hinkley Point project is of great import, it is not, however in a position where the two projects’ success are tied together. He commented, “We observe with interest and look to learn from that project but we’re not dependent upon it.” Highlighting one of the key differentiators between the project at Wylfa, as opposed to Hinkley Point, Alan Raymant explained that the Horizon plant is set to utilise highly advanced boiling water reactor technology, which is a technology already to have a tried-and-tested success rate as reported in Japanese plants. Construction for the project is expected to commence by the year 2018, however this date remains an estimation and depends upon the Office for Nuclear Regulation’s design assessment as well as the forming of an agreement on the strike price with the government itself. Yet, once again maintaining optimism, the company is confident that an arrangement will successfully be made with the government and so, the project will see no hitched in this department either. Of course, with keen backing from Hitachi, which bought Horizon in 2012, the company’s commitment to the project and its completion is also notable, with there still being room for discussion for additional investors to chip in to the £10bn project.
Law firm, Bircham Dyson Bell has reported that the UK faces what it describes as a “looming energy crunch” owing to the predicted loss of 25GW of generating capacity by 2030. The report highlighted the closure of 18 major power stations since 2012, representing a reduction of the UK’s total capacity by 14GW to little over 86GW. It also claimed the UK was on course to lose a futher 7GW by 2020 and another 18GW by 2030 if expected closures go ahead. Coal-fired plants at Longannet, Ferrybridge and Rugeley are all due to close this year. Eggborough meanwhile has been temporarily saved from closure after it was contracted into the Supplemental Balancing Reserve (SBR) for the winter of 2016/17. Its future after next year, however, remains uncertain. SBR has also contracted one of the four units at Fiddler’s Ferry although the three remaining units are due to come offline in a few short months. “We have observed increasing concern in recent years that as old electricity generation comes offline, new power generators are not being built at a rate that is keeping pace,” Angus Walker, Head of Government and Infrastructure at Bircham Dyson Bell commented. “Our research establishes the hard facts of how serious the situation is, finding that on current projections this is likely to result in a shortfall between supply and demand – in summary an energy crunch.” Despite documenting the promise of 18 new project which have been granted consent, the law firm’s image of the sector is somewhat bleak. It suggests that, with the upcoming plants having a combined generating capacity of less than 18GW, they will leave National Grid with a deficit of 19GW compared with 2012. Contributors to the the report were quick to point out inconsistent governmental policies as a major cause of the predicted “energy crunch”. Lawrence Slade, Chief Executive of Energy UK insisted the sector was facing real uncertainty and a lack of investment as a result. He claimed: “The cuts made, particularly to renewables, have been drastic and sudden. We need policy certainty and cross-party agreement.” It was just days ago that Energy UK recommended that the government review the Levy Control Framework (LCF) in order to provide clarify to companies and investors, a moved it hoped would inspire new confidence in energy generation.
