Grain Power Station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Grain Power Station | |
|
|
|
  Grain Power Station shown within Kent |
|
| OS grid reference | |
|---|---|
| Operator: | E.ON |
| Fuel: | Oil-fired 1,320MW |
| Commissioned: | 1979 |
Grain Power Station is an oil-fired power station in Kent, England.
Grain was built on a 250-acre site by the nationalised Central Electricity Generating Board in 1979. It is located on the Isle of Grain, where the River Medway flows into the Thames Estuary. The station has the second tallest chimney in the UK at 244 metres (801 ft), visible from a wide area of North Kent and parts of South Essex. It adjoins the site of the BP Kent oil refinery, which closed in 1982.
The station was originally designed to have a total capacity of 3,300MW but currently has an operational capacity of 1,320MW. The two remaining oil-fired generating units were mothballed by Powergen in 2002 and 2003, but almost immediately the company began to consider reopening the plant as electricity prices increased rapidly.
The station burns oil to drive two 690MW turbines that are capable of generating enough electricity to supply approximately 3% of the UK's electricity needs. It is currently operated by E.ON, which also operates the nearby Kingsnorth oil-fired station.
In 2006 E.ON announced plans for a 1,200 megawatt gas-fired station at Grain.
[edit] External links
 This Kent location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 |
This article about a power station is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
