Sutton Bridge Power Station

Sutton Bridge Power Station
Sutton Bridge power station
Country	England
Location	Lincolnshire, East Midlands
Coordinates	52.7572°N 0.19316°E / 52.7572; 0.19316
Status	Mothballed
Commission date	May 1999
Decommission date	August 2020
Operator	General Electric
Thermal power station
Primary fuel	Natural gas
External links
Commons	Related media on Commons
grid reference TF480199

Sutton Bridge Power Station is an 819 MW gas-fired power station in Sutton Bridge in the south-east of Lincolnshire in South Holland, England. It is situated on Centenary Way close to the River Nene. It is a major landmark on the Lincolnshire and Norfolk border and on clear days with its bright red lights it can be easily seen as far away as Hunstanton.

History

It was built by Enron at a cost of £337 million in May 1999 trading under the name of Sutton Bridge Power. It was constructed by Enron Engineering & Construction and designed by Stone & Webster with help from Atlantic Projects in building the steam turbine.^[1] In September 1999, it put the plant up for sale as the cost of electricity had plummeted, being uneconomic to generate.^[2] Enron already had another large CCGT power station on Teesside (which was the largest in Europe at that time).

In March 2000, the plant was bought by London Electricity, a division of EDF Energy for £156 million.^[3] The plant employs thirty five people and is run by General Electric International. The power plant has the capacity to supply 2% of the electricity for England and Wales.^[4][2]

Since September 2001, it has had a visitor centre for school children. When driving nearby to the north on the A17, the landmark is a dividing point between Lincolnshire and Norfolk.

EDF Energy announced in 2008 that it would sell Sutton Bridge to overcome objections to its takeover of British Energy.^[4] A consortium led by Macquarie Group purchased the site in 2012 for an undisclosed sum,^[5] and General Electric were appointed to operate and maintain the plant in 2013.^[6]

Macquarie later spunout the power plant owning part of the business as Calon Energy in 2015.^[7] In April 2018, Macquarie was reported to be considering selling Calon Energy, including the Sutton Bridge plant.^[8] However, it was still the owner at the time Calon Energy went into administration in June 2020.^[9]

In August 2020, it was reported that the plant was to be mothballed following Calon Energy entering administration.^[10] As of April 2022, the plant remained inactive, with "at least four months" worth of work reportedly required in order to bring it back to operational condition.^[11]

Specifications

The power station is a CCGT type, with two General Electric Frame 9 (9FA+)^[12] gas turbines powered with natural gas.^[13]

The exhaust gas heats a heat recovery steam generator, made by the Dutch company Standard Fasel Lentjes which was bought by NEM,^[14] which powers a GE 280 MW steam turbine. The electrical generators were also built by GE, which connect to the National Grid at 400 kV.

References

1. "Turbine and Generator Installations". Atlantic Projects Company. Archived from the original on 26 August 2007.
2. Teather, David (1 September 1999). "US utility Enron puts Sutton Bridge powerplant up for sale". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
3. "London Electricity Buys Sutton Bridge Power Station". EDF Energy. 9 March 2000. Archived from the original on 20 March 2006.
4. Williams, Holly (22 December 2008). "EDF to sell two power stations". The Independent. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022.
5. "EDF sells UK Sutton Bridge power station to Macquarie-led group". Reuters. 12 December 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
6. "GE to upgrade Calon Energy's 800MW Sutton Bridge power plant in UK". power-technology.com. 12 August 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2023. GE has been responsible for the operation and maintenance (O&M) of the power station under a multiyear services agreement from 2013.
7. "Macquarie considering sale of Calon Energy plants". Financial Times.
8. Collingridge, John (22 April 2018). "Macquarie weighs up sale of Calon Energy power stations". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
9. Kirong, Nephele (25 June 2020). "UK gas plant operator Calon Energy enters administration – BBC News". S&P Global Market Intelligence. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
10. "Calon Energy's administrators put two power plants in 'dormant state'". BBC News. 24 August 2020.
11. Brookes, Andrew (8 April 2022). "Mothballed Sutton Bridge Power Station would take at least four months to become operational again". Spalding Today. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
12. "9F gas turbine". GE Gas Power. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
13. "GE Upgrades to UK Power Plant to Help Increase the Site's Energy Output and Competitiveness While Reducing Costs". General Electric. 11 August 2015. Archived from the original on 25 August 2020.
14. "N.E.M. Group". Archived from the original on 7 July 2003.

External links

• EDF Energy page
• CCGTs in northern England