Rye House power station

Infobox UK power station
os_grid_reference=TL387090
static_

static_image_caption= Rye House Power Station
latitude=51.762466
longitude=0.01077
country=England
region=East of England
shire_county=Hertfordshire
operator=ScottishPower
fuel=Gas
fuel_capacity=715MW

Rye House Power Station is a 715MW combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/106475 station] close to Rye House railway station.

History

The station, near Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, about eighteen miles north of London, was built in the early 1990s and fully commissioned in November 1993 and officially opened in April 1994. Output from the station is enough to meet the daily power needs of nearly a million people - almost the population of Hertfordshire.

It was built on the site of an earlier coal-fired station built in 1953 to a design by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott.

Rye House operates as part of ScottishPower's UK Generation, playing a valuable role in the electricity markets in England and Wales. It was [http://www.scottishpower.com/PressReleases_562.htm acquired] by ScottishPower from Powergen in January 2001 for £217m.

pecification

CCGT stations use a gas turbine along with a steam turbine connected to a heat recovery steam generator to provide the most efficient form of thermal electricity generation. Rye House has three single-shaft Siemens V94.2 gas turbines (generating 150MW each) rotating at 3000rpm and three Babcock Energy steam generators (receiving exhaust gas at 540C) connected to one 250MW steam turbine. The plant was built by Siemens. The gas turbines have a terminal voltage of 11kV and the steam turbine 15.75kV, connecting to the National Grid at 400kV. It has the largest air-cooled condenser in Europe. The chimneys are 58 m high. It employs thirty seven people.

ee also

* Energy policy of the United Kingdom
* Energy use and conservation in the United Kingdom

External links

* [http://www.scottishpower.com/uploads/RyeHousePowerStation.pdf Rye House Power Station]
* [http://www.industcards.com/cc-england-east-mid.htm Other CCGTs in eastern England]