| Ferrybridge power stations | |
|---|---|
Ferrybridge C Power Station Viewed from the west in August 2005 |
|
|
|
|
| Country | England |
| Location | Knottingley |
| Coordinates | |
| Status | Operational |
| Commission date | A station: 1927 B station: 1957 C station: 1966 |
| Decommission date | A station: 1976 B station: 1992 |
| Operator(s) |
|
| Power station information | |
| Primary fuel | Coal |
| Secondary fuel | Biomass |
| Power generation information | |
| Installed capacity | A station:125 MW B station: 300 MW C station: 2,034 MW |
| Website SSE |
|
| grid reference SE475247 | |
The Ferrybridge power stations refers to a series of three coal-fired power stations situated on the River Aire in West Yorkshire, England. The first station on the site, Ferrybridge A power station, was constructed in the mid-1920s, and was closed as the second station, Ferrybridge B power station, was brought into operation in the 1950s. The A station has been retained since it closed. In the 1960s, Ferrybridge C power station was opened with a generating capacity of 2000 megawatts, which at the time was the largest of any power station in the UK. The B and C stations operated together until the B station's closure in the 1990s. The B station has since been demolished.
Ferrybridge C power station is currently the only power station operating on the site. Since 2004 is operated by Scottish and Southern Energy plc. It is capable of co-firing biomass and is currently being fitted with Flue Gas Desulphurisation (FGD) plant. There are plans to build a fourth, D station on the site.
Contents |
Land at Ferrybridge was purchased by the West Yorkshire Power Company in 1917. Plans for a power station were prepared and submitted to the Board of Trade in March 1918. Due to a system change the following year with the Electricity Act 1919, the plans were put on hold. The plans were resubmitted to the Electricity Commissioners in January 1920. The plans were finally granted permission in November 1921, but delayed due to a supply area reshuffle.[1] Construction of Ferrybridge A power station began in 1926 and the station began operating in 1927.[2] The station passed into the ownership of the British Electricity Authority on the nationalisation of the UK's power industry, with the Electricity Act 1947. This company in turn became the Central Electricity Authority in 1954.
The station closed on 25 October 1976, with a generating capacity of 125 MW.[3] Its boiler room and turbine hall still stand today, but its single large concrete chimney has since been demolished. The buildings are now used as offices and workshops by the RWE npower Technical Support Group, who are responsible for the maintenance and repairs of power station plant from around the country.[2]
Ferrybridge B Power Station was constructed in the 1950s. It generated electricity using three 100 megawatt (MW) generating sets, which were commissioned between 1957 and 1959. The station originally had a total generating capacity of 300 MW, but by the 1990s this was recorded as 285 MW. After the UK's electric supply industry was privatised in 1990, the station was operated by PowerGen.[4] The station closed in 1992 and has since been completely demolished.[2][4]
On 1 November 1965, three of the cooling towers collapsed due to vibrations in 85 mph winds. Although the structures had been built to withstand higher wind speeds, the design only considered average wind speeds over one minute and neglected shorter gusts. Furthermore, the grouped shape of the cooling towers meant that westerly winds were funnelled into the towers themselves, creating a vortex. Three out of the original eight cooling towers were destroyed and the remaining five were severely damaged. The towers were rebuilt and all eight cooling towers were strengthened to tolerate adverse weather conditions.[5][6][7] Following the accident, it was expected that the station would not be opened for some time after the scheduled date. However it was possible to connect one of the remaining towers to the first completed generating set and the station began generating soon after the expected date. The reconstruction of the destroyed towers began in April 1966.[8] The station first fed electricity into the National Grid on 27 February 1966.[8] It was the first 2000 MW power station in Europe.[2][9]
The power station was originally operated by the Central Electricity Generating Board, but ownership was passed to Powergen after privatisation of the UK's electrical supply industry. Ferrybridge Power Station, along with Fiddlers Ferry Power Station in Cheshire, was then sold to Edison Mission Energy in 1999. They were then sold on to AEP Energy Services Ltd in 2001, before both were sold again to Scottish and Southern Energy in July 2004 for £136 million.[2]
On the 31st October 2011 SSE was granted Section 36 planning permission to construct a 65MW Multi fuel plant at it’s Ferrybridge ‘C’ Power Station site[10]. The multi fuel plant will combust a range of fuel sources, including biomass, waste-derived fuels and waste wood, to generate electricity[11]. Completion of the power station is anticipated in early 2015.
Ferrybridge C Power Station comprises four 500 MW generating sets, using 800 tonnes of coal and 218 million litres of coolant water per hour. As well as the four main units, the station has two gas turbines which produce an extra 34 MW combined.[2] These are used for extra generating capacity and in black starts, as large power stations often need external electricity to start up if the main units are off line.[9] Coal is delivered to the station by railway and road transport and until the late 1990s, by barge.[2] The station has two 198 m (650 ft) high chimneys and eight 115 m (377 ft) high cooling towers, which are the largest of their kind in Europe.[9]
Ferrybridge C has now had an operating life of over 40 years. Since 2003, the station has established itself as a market leader in the effective co-firing of biomass. In the 2002-2003 tax year, the station was responsible for 80% of all co-fired renewable energy in the UK, resulting in a 3.5% net reduction of the plant's greenhouse gas emissions[12]. The station continues to co-fire biomass to generate electricity.
In 2007, Scottish and Southern Energy announced plans to conduct a feasibility study to retrofit unit 1 with a 'supercritical' boiler. According to the 2007 Annual Report, the decision was taken to discontinue this scheme. As of June 2007 however, a separate study assessed the feasibility of building a new 800 MW supercritical coal-fired station at Ferrybridge, potentially with carbon capture technology. At present there is no information to indicate that the proposed supercritical plant will be built.
In 2008 the four 500MW boilers were fitted with Boosted Over Fire Air in order to reduce the NOx emissions to below 500mg/Nm3. This technology takes air from the primary combustion zone and injects it higher in the furnace to provide two stages of burnout to reduce the NOx created.
In 2009 Flue Gas Desulphurisation (FGD) was commissioned on Unit 3 and Unit 4[9]. This has allowed the station to reduce its Sulphur emissions to the requirements of the Large Combustion Plant Directive. FGD is a modern technology for removing the harmful sulphur dioxide from the waste flue gas created during coal fired electricity generation[13]. The FGD removes approximately 95% of the sulphur dioxide from the flue gas before its release to the atmosphere. A by-product of the FGD process is gypsum, used by Lafarge to produce plasterboard.
SSE has constructed the UK’s largest fully integrated carbon capture plant at Ferrybridge Power Station[14] in partnership with Doosan Power Systems, Vattenfall and the Technology strategy Board. The plant was officially opened on November 30th 2011 by Chris Huhne, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change[15]. The pilot plant will take a 1% slipstream from the flue gas of Unit 4 (500MW unit), equivalent to 5MW, and extract the CO2 from it removing up to 100 tonnes per day[16]. The CO2 is then recombined with the cleaned flue gas and exhausted via the stack as normal as the plant is only designed to prove the capture part of the CCS chain[17]. The plant uses amine technology adapted from the oil and gas industry. The flue gas is contacted with the amine based solvent which reacts with the CO2. The CO2 rich solvent is then heated to drive off the CO2 and the solvent is recycled into the process. A comprehensive test programme is planned to optimise the process and components and to develop required models for scale up[18]. Additional research will be conducted by the projects four partner universities: Edinburgh, Leeds, Nottingham and Sheffield.
| Preceded by Blyth Power Station |
Largest Power Station in the UK 1966-1968 |
Succeeded by Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||