Ironbridge power station

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Ironbridge power station is a retired power station in Shropshire, West Midlands, United Kingdom.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name Location Coordinates (WGS 84)
Ironbridge power station Shropshire, West Midlands, United Kingdom 52.632529, -2.512676 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the power station.

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Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):

  • Unit 1, Unit 2: 52.632529, -2.512676

Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name Status Fuel(s) Capacity (MW) Technology Start year Retired year
Unit 1 retired coal: bituminous 543 unknown 1970 2011
Unit 2 retired coal: bituminous 543 unknown 1970 2011

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

Unit name Owner Parent
Unit 1 E.ON SE [100%] E.ON SE [100.0%]
Unit 2 E.ON SE [100%] E.ON SE [100.0%]

Background

Ironbridge A

Construction of the first Ironbridge Power Station (later to become known as Ironbridge A Power Station) began in 1929, and the first phase was completed in 1932. The station officially opened on 13 October 1932. The full generating capacity of Ironbridge A was not realized until major expansions and the commissioning of extra boilers and generating sets had been completed in 1939. This gave the A Station a total generating output of 200 megawatts (MW).[1]

As a result of the increasing demand for electricity after the World War II, it was decided by the Central Electricity Generating Board that a new, larger, 2 x 500MW power station called Ironbridge B, was to be constructed alongside the A Station. The A station was partially closed on 27 October 1980, with the decommissioning of 100MW of the station's generating capacity. The remainder of the station's capacity ceased generating electricity in 1981 and significant portions of the station were demolished in 1983 prior to being granted listed building status.[2]

Ironbridge B

Ironbridge B comprises two units with an installed capacity of 1,000 megawatts, commissioned in 1970.[3]

As a result of the implementation of the European Union Large Combustion Plant Directive E.ON decided to opt the Ironbridge power station out of improving its pollution control equipment. While E.ON state on its website that the power station will be closed by 2015,[4] they also state that they plan to convert one unit of the power station to run on 80% wood and 20% coal.[5]

As of January 2012 the plant had 11,417 hours of its 20,000 operating hours remaining.[6]

In April 2012 EON stated that the unit converted to co-fire with wood and coal would "become operational in early 2013 and will run its remaining operational hours on the new fuel mix until its planned closure by December 2015 as required under the Large Combustion Plant Directive (LCPD)."[7]

External Articles

Articles and Resources

References

  1. "The West Midlands Joint Electricity Authority". http://www.localhistory.scit.wlv.ac.uk/. Retrieved 30 November 2008. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help)
  2. Mr. Redmond (16 January 1984). "Coal-fired Power Stations". Hansard. Retrieved 1 September 2009.
  3. E.ON UK, "Ironbridge", E.ON UK website, accessed October 2012.
  4. E.ON UK, "Large combustion plant directive" E.ON UK website, accessed October 2012.
  5. E.ON UK, "Ironbridge", E.ON UK website, accessed October 2012.
  6. "Opted Out plants 1 January 2012", European Environment Agency, October 2012. See Sheet 17, identified in the tabs at the foot of the Excel spreadhseet as "UK").
  7. EON, "E.ON to progress to next stage with plans for fuel switch and flexibility at Ironbridge power station", Media Release, April 5, 2012.

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of coal-fired power stations, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.