ESB opens rare new CCGT power plant in Manchester

Irish utility ESB has opened a new, 884 MW gas-fired power station at Carrington near Manchester; saying that the €820mn development is powering the equivalent of more than a million homes and businesses in the Greater Manchester area. Following three years of construction the plant became fully operational in September 2016, but was officially opened last month. 

Carrington Power Station is the first new large-scale gas-fired combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant to come onto the British electricity grid since 2013. With an efficiency of 58%, it is one of the most efficient thermal plants in the UK, says ESB, and generates four times more electricity than the coal plant formerly located on the site. 

As well as providing 884 MW of base-load generation, Carrington Power Station will be one of the most flexible plants in providing fast back-up when it is needed to balance intermittent wind and solar generation, says ESB. The company is already a sizable independent power generator in the UK. In addition to Carrington, it operates a 350 MW gas generation plant in Corby and three onshore wind farms, at Fullabrook (66 MW), Mynydd y Betws (38 MW) and West Durham (24 MW). 

The utility is currently constructing a 40 MW waste wood biomass plant at Tilbury in Essex, in partnership with the Green Investment Bank, which will commence operation later this year. It also has plans for a 1,650 MW gas-fired power station at Knottingley in West Yorkshire.