Ballylumford power station
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Ballylumford power station is a natural gas-fired power station in Northern Ireland. With its main plant generating 600 megawatts of electricity, it is Northern Ireland's largest power station and provides half of the country's power.[1] Overall the station produces 1316MW. The excess supply is sold to the Electricity Supply Board in the Republic of Ireland. The plant is located at the tip of the Islandmagee peninsula, which separates Larne Lough from the Irish Sea. The lough is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
[edit] History
The first power station built at the site was started in 1943. The "A" station was powered by coal and operated until 1974, when the "B" station was completed.
The station was a key factor in the 1974 Ulster Workers' Council strike. Supplying all of Belfast and most of the eastern half of the country, Northern Ireland was effectively brought to a standstill when the mainly Protestant workers of the plant were persuaded to join the strike. The closure of the plant together with the wider strike resulted in the collapse of the Sunningdale Agreement. [2]
In 1991 the nationalised power company, Northern Ireland Electricity, was incorporated as a government owned public limited company. In 1992 the four power stations at Belfast, Ballylumford, Derry (Coolkeeragh) and Carrickfergus (Kilroot) were demerged and sold. In 1993 the remainder of NIE (transmission, supply and retail businesses) was privatised as Northern Ireland Electricity plc.
In 1992 the supply of electricity in Northern Ireland was privatised. As a result Northern Ireland Electricity sold the Ballylumford site to its present owners, Premier Power Ltd, a subsidiary of British Gas. A condition of the sale was that the plant must be converted from heavy oil to gas-fired. British Gas formed Premier Transco Ltd. to build a submarine interconnector, the Scotland-Northern Ireland Pipeline (SNIP), a 135 km pipe (40.4 km under sea) with a diameter of 0.61 m. Construction lasted three years (1994-1996) and was completed on time and on budget. Ballylumford converted to natural gas in 1996. To take advantage of this investment a licence was tendered to provide natural gas to Belfast, a tender which British Gas won through its subsidiary Phoenix Natural Gas.
In 2000 work began on the site's newest facility, a combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT), which has greatly increased efficiency and reduced pollution.[3] However, since it came online in September 2003 it has created serious foam pollution within Larne Lough.
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