Sutton Bridge Power Station
Gas-fired power station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
| Sutton Bridge Power Station | |
|---|---|
Sutton Bridge power station | |
 | |
| Country | England |
| Location | Lincolnshire, East Midlands |
| Coordinates | 52.7572°N 0.19316°E |
| 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 TF 480 199 | |
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]
Sutton Bridge Power Station returned to service in December 2023.[12]
Specifications
The power station is a CCGT type, with two General Electric Frame 9 (9FA+)[13] gas turbines powered with natural gas.[14]
The exhaust gas heats a heat recovery steam generator, made by the Dutch company Standard Fasel Lentjes which was bought by NEM,[15] 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.
