The 420 MW plant at Ashington in Northumberland ended generation from coal in December before beginning its conversion to run on biomass. Earlier in the month it received State Aid clearance from the European Commission to receive subsidies under the Contracts for Difference scheme, which had been granted by the government in spring 2014.
The plant is expected to be back up and running by the beginning of 2018. Post conversion it should produce 2.3 TWh of electricity each year, enough to power around 700,000 homes.
Neil O’Hara, the chief executive of EPH’s UK subsidiary, said: “We are pleased that EPH has made this investment and look forward to working closely with the Lynemouth Power team and its contractors to reach final investment decisions. Whilst we are working under tight time constraints and challenging foreign exchange conditions we believe that with the continuing efforts of the Lynemouth Power team and the on-going support of the contractors the business will achieve its ambitions.”
Last month the company was offered a contract by National Grid to use Eggborough power station to provide spare capacity next winter as part of the Supplemental Balancing Reserve.
Mr O’Hara said: “Entering into the contract would mean that production at Eggborough would not completely cease at the end of March 2016, and a number of jobs would continue to support generation.”
He told Utility Week he expects the negotiations to conclude “within the next few months.”