Little Barford Power Station
Encyclopedia
Little Barford Power Station is a 680MWe gas-fired power station just north of the village of Little Barford
(close to St Neots
) in Bedfordshire
. It lies just south of the A428
St Neots bypass and east of the Wyboston
Leisure Park. The River Great Ouse
runs alongside.
. This station had a generating capacity of 120 MW and was closed on 26 October 1981.
Construction of the gas fired station started in 1994, and it opened in 1996. The company that built it, Swindon
-based National Power
, became Innogy in August 2000. That company was bought by the German electricity company, Essen
-based RWE
in March 2002, now under the trading name npower
(a former brand name of National Power).
In 2002, an electrical storage facility was built by Regenesys Technologies Ltd (previously owned by Innogy but bought by VRB Power Systems in October 2004) which uses fuel cell
s. The fuel cell plant is still owned by RWE.
type power station using natural gas. It has two General Electric
Frame 9 (9001) gas turbine
engines built by GEC Alsthom (Alstom
). Each of these has a Babcock Energy
heat recovery steam generator which lead to one steam turbine
. The station connects to the National Grid at the nearby 400 kV Eaton Socon substation
. It employs around fifty people. It has a black start
facility using a 17MWe gas turbine engine. The site was built by EGT, Atlantic Projects and Henry Boot.
Little Barford
Little Barford is a village and civil parish located in Bedfordshire, England. It lies on the county boundary with Cambridgeshire, adjacent to the town of St Neots...
(close to St Neots
St Neots
St Neots is a town and civil parish with a population of 26,356 people. It lies on the River Great Ouse in Huntingdonshire District, approximately north of central London, and is the largest town in Cambridgeshire . The town is named after the Cornish monk St...
) in Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
. It lies just south of the A428
A428 road
The A428 road is a major road in central and eastern England. It connects the cities of Coventry and Cambridge by way of the county towns of Northampton and Bedford.-Coventry - Northampton:...
St Neots bypass and east of the Wyboston
Wyboston
Wyboston is a village in the English county of Bedfordshire.The eastern part of the village is dominated by the A1 Great North Road which at this point also carries the traffic of the A428 east–west road. The northern junction of these roads is grade-separated, while the southern junction is a...
Leisure Park. The River Great Ouse
River Great Ouse
The Great Ouse is a river in the east of England. At long, it is the fourth-longest river in the United Kingdom. The river has been important for navigation, and for draining the low-lying region through which it flows. Its course has been modified several times, with the first recorded being in...
runs alongside.
History
It is built on the site of a former coal-fired power stationFossil fuel power plant
A fossil-fuel power station is a power station that burns fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas or petroleum to produce electricity. Central station fossil-fuel power plants are designed on a large scale for continuous operation...
. This station had a generating capacity of 120 MW and was closed on 26 October 1981.
Construction of the gas fired station started in 1994, and it opened in 1996. The company that built it, Swindon
Swindon
Swindon is a large town within the borough of Swindon and ceremonial county of Wiltshire, in South West England. It is midway between Bristol, west and Reading, east. London is east...
-based National Power
National Power
- History :National Power was formed following the privatisation of the UK electricity market in 1990. In England and Wales the Central Electricity Generating Board, which was responsible for the generation and transmission of electricity was split into three generating companies Powergen, National...
, became Innogy in August 2000. That company was bought by the German electricity company, Essen
Essen
- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...
-based RWE
RWE
RWE AG , is a German electric power and natural gas public utility company based in Essen. Through its various subsidiaries, the energy company contributes electricity and gas to more than 20 million electricity customers and 10 million gas customers, principally in Europe...
in March 2002, now under the trading name npower
Npower (UK)
RWE Npower plc is a UK-based electricity and gas supply generation company, formerly known as Innogy plc. As Innogy plc it was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index...
(a former brand name of National Power).
In 2002, an electrical storage facility was built by Regenesys Technologies Ltd (previously owned by Innogy but bought by VRB Power Systems in October 2004) which uses fuel cell
Fuel cell
A fuel cell is a device that converts the chemical energy from a fuel into electricity through a chemical reaction with oxygen or another oxidizing agent. Hydrogen is the most common fuel, but hydrocarbons such as natural gas and alcohols like methanol are sometimes used...
s. The fuel cell plant is still owned by RWE.
Specification
It is a CCGTCombined cycle
In electric power generation a combined cycle is an assembly of heat engines that work in tandem off the same source of heat, converting it into mechanical energy, which in turn usually drives electrical generators...
type power station using natural gas. It has two General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
Frame 9 (9001) gas turbine
Gas turbine
A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of internal combustion engine. It has an upstream rotating compressor coupled to a downstream turbine, and a combustion chamber in-between....
engines built by GEC Alsthom (Alstom
Alstom
Alstom is a large multinational conglomerate which holds interests in the power generation and transport markets. According to the company website, in the years 2010-2011 Alstom had annual sales of over €20.9 billion, and employed more than 85,000 people in 70 countries. Alstom's headquarters are...
). Each of these has a Babcock Energy
Doosan Babcock
Doosan Babcock, is part of Doosan Power Systems Ltd a UK-based subsidiary of Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction. DPS is a power sector utility boiler OEM and after market services company, offering specialist services and technologies to clients in the nuclear power generation, fossil-fired...
heat recovery steam generator which lead to one steam turbine
Steam turbine
A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884....
. The station connects to the National Grid at the nearby 400 kV Eaton Socon substation
Electrical substation
A substation is a part of an electrical generation, transmission, and distribution system. Substations transform voltage from high to low, or the reverse, or perform any of several other important functions...
. It employs around fifty people. It has a black start
Black start
A black start is the process of restoring a power station to operation without relying on the external electric power transmission network.Normally, the electric power used within the plant is provided from the station's own generators...
facility using a 17MWe gas turbine engine. The site was built by EGT, Atlantic Projects and Henry Boot.