Peterborough Power Station

Peterborough Power Station is a 360MWe gas-fired power station at Eastern Industry, Fengate in the city of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire in the United Kingdom. It employs around forty people.

The power station was commissioned in December 1993 with construction starting in January 1991. It is run by Centrica Energy and officially owned by Centrica PB Ltd. [ [http://epr.ofgem.gov.uk/document_fetch.php?documentid=10699 Electricity Generation Licence] granted under the Electricity Act 1989 s.6(l)(a), Gas and Electricity Markets Authority, 18 October 2001] Peterborough Power Ltd, the station's original operating name, was bought by Centrica Plc from Dallas-based TXU Corp. in October 2001. [ [http://epr.ofgem.gov.uk/document_fetch.php?documentid=10787 Electricity Generation Licence] "Scheme made pursuant to para.18 of sch.7 to the Utilities Act 2000", Gas and Electricity Markets Authority, 28 September 2001 and [http://epr.ofgem.gov.uk/document_fetch.php?documentid=10786 Notice of revocation of licence] Gas and Electricity Markets Authority, 23 May 2005] Centrica was created in 1997 when British Gas Plc demerged into Centrica Plc and BG Group Plc; it owns the rights to the British Gas name for use in the domestic market.

Technical specifications

Peterborough is a CCGT type power station that runs on natural gas. The two General Electric Frame 9E gas turbines, each producing 118MWe which connect to a heat recovery steam generator powered by exhaust gases at 986 degrees fahrenheit (530 °c) which leads to one steam turbine running at 3,000 rpm. The generators on the gas turbines have a terminal voltage of 14kV and are rated at 161MVA. [ [http://www.centrica.com/files/reports/2006cr/files/PPC/peterborough.pdf Permit with introductory note] "Pollution Prevention and Control (England & Wales) Regulations 2000", Environment Agency, 29 December 2006]

The installation produces enough power for two cities the size of Peterborough. Including the steam turbine, it has a thermal efficiency of 48% with a total thermal input of 790MW. The plant has a black start 2.9MW diesel generator and connects to the National Grid at 132kV. It is used for base load and peak load, where it can temporarily produce 400MWe, although actual power depends on local humidity and temperature. The chimneys are 197 feet (60 m) and 148 feet (45 m) high. [ [http://www.centrica.com/files/reports/2006cr/files/PPC/peterboroughApplication.pdf PPC Permit Application] RSK ENSR Environment Ltd. for Centrica Energy, 17 February 2006]

Water management

There is an air-cooled condenser to eliminate the need for cooling water. It makes use of a grey water supply provided by Anglian Water’s nearby sewage treatment plant. This grey water prevents the use of clean potable water from the city's supply and reduces the unnecessary use of chemicals to regenerate the ion exchange resins which are used to demineralise the water to protect the power station's boilers and steam turbine.

References

External links

* [http://www.centricaenergy.com/index.asp?pageid=19&area=peterborough Peterborough Power Station]