RWE opens one, axes two plants
19 Sep 2012
London - RWE npower is to close its 2,000MW coal-fired Didcot A Power Station in Oxfordshire and the 1,000MW oil-fired Fawley Power Station in Hampshire at the end of March 2013.
The announcement of the closures, which RWE said are required under the EU Large Combustion Plant Directive, coincided with the group’s opening of a new 2,000MW power plant in Wales.
“The closures, driven by Government policy, reflect the changing shape of power generation in the UK with modern, low carbon power generation replacing older, less efficient power stations,” said Volker Beckers CEO RWE npower.
Both over 40 years old, the Didcot A and Fawley power stations were both opted out of the EU’s Large Combustion Plant Directive, which is aimed at reducing emissions across Europe.
The stations were therefore required to cease generation by the end of December 2015 at the latest or once an allocated number of operational hours were completed (20,000 hours for coal or 10,000 hours for oil.)
Fawley and Didcot A Power Stations’ open cycle gas turbines will remain operational until further notice, said RWE.
Meanwhile, RWE has officially opened its new 2000 MW Pembroke Power Station - a £1-billion facility which the company claims is one of Europe’s largest and most efficient combined cycle gas turbine plants.
This addition means RWE npower now has the largest and most efficient gas portfolio as well as the largest fleet of renewable energy technologies in the country,” said Volker Beckers, CEO of RWE npower.
Control of the final unit of Pembroke was handed over to the station team last week, marking the end of over three years of construction, in which over 10,000 contractors worked 7.4 million man hours to complete the facility.
RWE has invested over £1 billion a year into the UK over the past few years. This includes the £650 million gas-fired Staythorpe power station which opened last year, as well as various renewable energy investments.
