RWE has agreed to buy the newly refurbished King’s Lynn combined-cycle gas turbine plant from Centrica for £105 million.
The facility was reopened by Centrica in November after being mothballed in 2012 due to its low efficiency at a time of rising gas prices. As part of its overhaul, the power station was upgraded with a new gas turbine that helped raise its maximum power output to 382MW and its thermal efficiency to 57 per cent.
“The acquisition of King’s Lynn power station strengthens our position as one of the largest operators of gas-fired power plants in Europe,” said Roger Miesen, chief executive of RWE Generation.
“As a key enabler of security of supply, gas plays a key role in the transformation to a low carbon energy system,” he added.
Tom Glover, RWE country chair for the UK, said: “King’s Lynn, as a highly flexible and efficient combined cycle power plant, fits perfectly with our existing portfolio of gas and renewable power generation.”
The transaction, which is expected to be completed within the first quarter of 2020, will bring the total capacity of RWE’s gas generation portfolio in the UK to 7.2GW. The plant will be supported by a 15-year capacity market contract which is due to start in October 2020.
SSE fires up multifuel plant
Meanwhile, SSE has announced that the Ferrybridge Multifuel 2 – a 70MW energy-from-waste plant in Yorkshire – has now entered commercial operation. The £325 million project was developed as a 50:50 joint venture between itself and Wheelabrator Technologies.
“We’re delighted to have achieved commercial operation at Ferrybridge Multifuel 2, which is a fantastic accomplishment for everyone that has been involved in the project over the last three years,” said Tom Maillet, managing director of Multifuel Energy.
The facility will generate enough power to meet the needs of 180,000 homes, whilst each year consuming up to 675,000 tonnes of waste-derived fuel that would otherwise be sent to landfill.
Its sister project – Ferrybridge Multifuel 1 – was opened in July 2015. Both have been built on the site of the SSE’s Ferrybridge C coal-fired power station, which was shut down in March 2016.