Baglan Bay power station

Baglan Bay power station
Baglan Bay Power Station
Map
CountryWales, United Kingdom
LocationPort Talbot
Coordinates51°37′11″N 3°49′47″W / 51.619735°N 3.829637°W / 51.619735; -3.829637
StatusDecommissioned
Commission date2003
Decommission dateJuly 2020
OwnerBaglan Group
OperatorIn receivership
Thermal power station
Primary fuelNatural gas
Combined cycle?Yes
Power generation
Nameplate capacity525 MW
External links
CommonsRelated media on Commons
[edit on Wikidata]

Baglan Bay power station is a disused[1] 525MWe gas-fired power station situated on Baglan Moors just west of Port Talbot in Wales.

History

Site of the former BP Baglan Bay plant

The power station was built on the site of the former Isopropanol BP chemicals plant in September 2003, costing £300 million. At the time of its development, it was considered the most advanced CCGT facility of its kind with close to 60% efficiency. It was built by the GE Energy division of General Electric, who later rebranded to GE Power then GE Gas Power. It was sold by GE in October 2012 to a group of financial investors, led by Macquarie Group.[2] After the sale, GE continued to operate the power station under an Operations and Maintenance (O&M) contract until 2019 when staff at the power plant were TUPE transferred to Calon Energy.

In June 2020 the Baglan Group entered administration and in July 2020 the power station ceased generating electricity. [3] Power was supplied to the Baglan Energy Park which is home to a large number of other businesses and organisations via the power stations connection to the National Grid. From August 2022, the private wire network is no longer in use and the businesses on the energy park have made arrangements for their own independent power supply.

In news reports regarding a fire at the site in August 2023, the station was variously described as 'disused'[1] and a 'former power station,'[4] confirming the plant had ceased operations.

Specification

It had a CCGT-type power station that runs on natural gas. It had one General Electric 50Hz H-class system[5] (9H) gas turbine which achieves a firing temperature well above 2,600F linked on a single-shaft to a heat recovery steam generator and a GE steam turbine. It had black start capability, using a 33MWe GE LM2500 gas turbine. It connected to the National Grid at 275kV. It is 60% thermally efficient.

Only six H-System combined cycle power plants were built and continue to operate commercially, and while one of those plants — the 60-Hz 7H Gas Turbine based at Inland Empire Energy Center — has achieved notable heat rate and NOx emissions parameters, GE does not offer the H-System anymore. They were replaced by HA models.

Retrofitting the power station with a newer HA model remained technically possible, however as the power station has been demolished, this will never happen.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Gogarty, Conor (13 August 2023). "Baglan Bay power plant fire still burning 40 hours after suspected arson". WalesOnline. Retrieved 30 December 2023. A fire at a disused energy plant...
  2. ^ "Macquarie Buys U.K. Gas-Fed Power Plants in Bet Profits to Rise". Bloomberg. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
  3. ^ "Update: Baglan group of companies – power supply to customers". GOV.UK. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  4. ^ "Crews fight fire at arson-hit former power station". BBC News. 12 August 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2023. Firefighters have been battling a smouldering blaze at a former power station...
  5. ^ "GE Energy - H System* Power Island". www.gepower.com. Archived from the original on 2 January 2011. Retrieved 22 February 2022.