5GW of UK plant facing running restrictions from 1 January 2016

Henry Evans

24-Nov-2015

Just over 5GW of the UK’s thermal generation capacity that has capacity contracts in place for the end of the decade face restrictions on their running hours from the start of next year under current EU emissions legislation.

French utility EDF opted both the 2GW Cottam and 2GW West Burton coal-fired power stations into the EU’s Limited Life Derogation (LLD), meaning they will be restricted to running for 17,500 hours from 1 January 2016 – the equivalent of two years – before being forced to close under emissions regulations (see EDEM 29 January 2014).

German utility RWE also chose the LLD for one of its gas plants, the 1.4GW Didcot combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT), before the deadline of 31 December 2013.

Both utilities have the option to backtrack on the LLD option and enter the UK’s Transitional National Plan (TNP), which would give the plants an additional four and half years until July 2020 to fit emissions abatement equipment enabling them to comply with the EU’s Industrial Emissions Directive (IED).

Despite indicating almost two years ago that they intended to drop the LLD option and enter the TNP for most of the capacity, both utilities have yet to act with just over a month remaining before the new initiatives become reality.

“The plant was entered into the LLD,” said a spokeswoman for RWE. “However, it is rescindable until the end of the year. Nothing new on this,” she said.

“There’s nothing new to say,” said a spokeswoman for EDF, acknowledging that the company still has time to consider its options.

Cottam and Didcot have both secured capacity market contracts for the start of winter 2018, which means they are contracted by National Grid to be available to the market and face financial penalties if they do not generate when requested. Cottam has secured a three year contract while Didcot is contracted for just one year.

Three of the four units at the 2GW West Burton have also secured three-year contracts, starting in winter 2018.

Furthermore, all three power stations have pre-qualified to enter this December’s capacity market auction, which will deliver contracts beginning at the start of winter 2019.

Continuing with the LLD option could mean the plants are faced with the prospect of retaining available hours ahead of the Capacity Market contracts taking effect in 2018.

All three power stations are currently active in the wholesale market. One of the Didcot units was generating at 570MW throughout Monday while the second unit was ramped up to its full capacity of 700MW early in the morning and the afternoon, according to Balancing mechanism (BM) data published by National Grid.

West Burton also fired up early on Monday morning and was running for most of the day, while three of the four units at Cottam were active at close to full capacity since the early hours. henry.evans@icis.com



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