Eggborough Power Station to close
Eggborough coal-fired power station in East Yorkshire is to close.
The Goole station has announced this morning that it was not successful in this week’s Capacity Market auction for the period 2018-19. Around 200 people are understood to work at the site.
Eggborough Power Limited said it will continue to meet its obligations under the current Capacity Market contract, which runs through to the end of September 2018, but said that without a contract for future years it will cease to be economically viable to continue operations at the station.
The power station was built in 1970 with an expected life-span of 25 years. It comprises four units and supplies 5% of the power in the UK, equivalent to powering around two million homes.
Adam Booth, managing director at Eggborough Power, said: “With the age of the plant and the current Government’s policy that all UK coal-fired power generation must cease by 2025, Eggborough has been under threat of closure for the past few years.
“Eggborough has a proud history of generation and a dedicated and skilled workforce. We will work through the consultation with employee representatives and provide support to employees throughout this process.”
Numbers of potential redundancies and associated timing are subject to consultation with staff representatives. A number of roles may be required to support decommissioning, demolition and future opportunities for the business beyond September 2018.
A planning application is currently being progressed to develop a new 2,500 megawatt gas-fired power station (CCGT) at the site, capable of supplying the electricity needs of around 2 million homes but it is anticipated that this would not be operational until the early 2020s.
