Three of EDF’s nuclear units – one each at the Dungeness B, Heysham 2 and Torness power stations – have dropped out of the latest four-year-ahead (T-4) Capacity Market auction before it cleared at an annual price £18/kW.
The company’s website currently lists their estimated closure dates as 2028 for Dungeness B and 2030 for Heysham 2 and Torness.
In total, more than 40.8GW of de-rated capacity was awarded contracts in the auction for delivery starting in 2024/25, with existing capacity generation accounting for roughly three quarters (almost 30.5GW).
Agreements were also secured by 1,736MW of new build generation, nearly half of which comprised three new open-cycle gas turbines being developed by Drax.
The Progress, Millbrook, Hirwaun projects located in Suffolk, Bedfordshire and south Wales respectively were all acquired by the company in 2016 alongside the Abergelli project near Swansea, which was also entered into the auction but failed to secure an agreement.
The turbines, which will each have a nameplate capacity of 299MW (de-rated to 285MW), are expected to take two years to build at a cost of £80-90 million per unit. Drax said it is now evaluating its options for all four projects, “including their potential sale”.
Most of the remaining new build generation that was successful was comprised of gas-fuelled reciprocating engines and battery storage, although agreements were also secured by six onshore windfarms (28MW), two solar farms (13MW) and two energy-from-waste plants (79MW). More than 14GW of new build generation entered the auction.
Contracts were additionally won by four new build interconnectors – IFA2 and ElecLink to France, North Sea Link to Norway and Viking Link to Denmark – with a combined capacity of 3,519MW, along with 973MW of unproven and 94MW of proven demand-side response. Existing interconnectors secured agreements totalling 3,355MW.
Note: All capacity figures given above are for de-rated capacity and rounded to the nearest megawatt unless stated otherwise.
Successful Capacity
Source: National Grid Electricity System Operator