Immingham Power Station
Encyclopedia
Immingham Combined Heat and Power Plant (also known as Conoco Philips Power Station) is a gas-fired
CHP power station
in North Lincolnshire
, England
. It is situated on the south bank of the Humber
, north of the town of Immingham
, from which it takes its name. Its generating capacity of 730 megawatts makes it Europe's largest CHP plant. The station has been operated by energy company ConocoPhillips
since it opened in 2004.
and greater offsets against tax for the plant's depreciation. It was opened on November 1 2004 by Margaret Beckett
, and is owned by ConocoPhillips
.
The £350m plant is sited on the Humber Refinery
. It is a CHP
plant, providing electricity and heat for the refinery's processes. Excess steam goes to the neighbouring Lindsey Oil Refinery
and excess electricity goes to the National Grid. It was designed by Foster Wheeler Energy
and built by Kier
. The power station trades as Immingham CHP LLP
.
type power station using natural gas. Two 260MW General Electric
Frame 9 (9001FA) gas turbine
s generate electricity with the exhaust gas from each heating a Nooter Eriksen heat recovery steam generator. Nooter is based in Cardano al Campo
in the Italian Varese
province. The steam from each these HRSGs transfers to a steam turbine
. The two 115MWe steam turbines are built by Franco Tosi Meccanica based in Legnano
in the Italian province of Milan
. There are also two auxiliary boilers. Each boiler can provide 50% of the steam needs (at 50bar
) for each refinery. It normally exports around a minimum of 150MW to the National Grid, but this can be increased depending on the needs of the Grid and the two refineries. The plant is about 70% thermally efficient
. The refinery operations need around 25MW of electricity. Each steam turbine uses a maximum of 300 tonnes of steam per hour. Around 190 tonnes per hour of steam goes to the Humber Refinery, and around 160 tonnes per hour goes to the Lindsey Refinery.
in 2009, some construction workers have not been on site.
Fossil 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...
CHP power station
Cogeneration
Cogeneration is the use of a heat engine or a power station to simultaneously generate both electricity and useful heat....
in North Lincolnshire
North Lincolnshire
North Lincolnshire is a unitary authority area in the region of Yorkshire and the Humber in England. For ceremonial purposes it is part of Lincolnshire....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is situated on the south bank of the Humber
Humber
The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal River Ouse and the tidal River Trent. From here to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between the East Riding of Yorkshire on the north bank...
, north of the town of Immingham
Immingham
Immingham is a town in North East Lincolnshire, located on the south bank of the Humber Estuary...
, from which it takes its name. Its generating capacity of 730 megawatts makes it Europe's largest CHP plant. The station has been operated by energy company ConocoPhillips
ConocoPhillips
ConocoPhillips Company is an American multinational energy corporation with its headquarters located in the Energy Corridor district of Houston, Texas in the United States...
since it opened in 2004.
History
Plans for the power station began in 1998, when ways to provide power for both refineries were investigated. Due to the low price of electricity when the designs for the station began in 2004, the plant would have not been economically viable unless tax-incentives were given by the UK government. These were in the form of exemption from the Climate Change LevyClimate Change Levy
The Climate Change Levy is a tax on energy delivered to non-domestic users in the United Kingdom. Its aim is to provide an incentive to increase energy efficiency and to reduce carbon emissions, however there have been ongoing calls to replace it with a proper carbon tax.-Scope and...
and greater offsets against tax for the plant's depreciation. It was opened on November 1 2004 by Margaret Beckett
Margaret Beckett
Margaret Mary Beckett is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Derby South since 1983, rising to become the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party under John Smith, from 18 July 1992 to 12 May 1994, and briefly serving as Leader of the Party following Smith's death...
, and is owned by ConocoPhillips
ConocoPhillips
ConocoPhillips Company is an American multinational energy corporation with its headquarters located in the Energy Corridor district of Houston, Texas in the United States...
.
The £350m plant is sited on the Humber Refinery
Humber Refinery
The Humber Refinery is a British oil refinery in South Killingholme, North Lincolnshire. It is situated south of the railway line next to the A160; Total's Lindsey Oil Refinery is north of the railway line....
. It is a CHP
Cogeneration
Cogeneration is the use of a heat engine or a power station to simultaneously generate both electricity and useful heat....
plant, providing electricity and heat for the refinery's processes. Excess steam goes to the neighbouring Lindsey Oil Refinery
Lindsey Oil Refinery
Lindsey Oil Refinery is a Total owned oil refinery on Eastfield Road in North Killingholme, North Lincolnshire, England. It lies immediately north of the Humber Refinery owned by rival oil company ConocoPhillips, being north of the railway line to Immingham Docks. The former RAF North Killingholme...
and excess electricity goes to the National Grid. It was designed by Foster Wheeler Energy
Foster Wheeler Corporation
Foster Wheeler is a global conglomerate incorporated in Switzerland and with its principal executive offices in New Jersey. It is focused on Engineering, Procurement, and Construction and on power...
and built by Kier
Kier Group
Kier Group plc is a construction, services and property group active in building and civil engineering, support services, public and private housebuilding, land development and the Private Finance Initiative...
. The power station trades as Immingham CHP LLP
Limited liability partnership
A limited liability partnership is a partnership in which some or all partners have limited liability. It therefore exhibits elements of partnerships and corporations. In an LLP one partner is not responsible or liable for another partner's misconduct or negligence. This is an important...
.
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. Two 260MW 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 (9001FA) 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....
s generate electricity with the exhaust gas from each heating a Nooter Eriksen heat recovery steam generator. Nooter is based in Cardano al Campo
Cardano al Campo
Cardano al Campo is a town and comune located in the province of Varese, in the Lombardy region of northern Italy.The head office of Livingston Energy Flight is in Cardano al Campo.-External links:*...
in the Italian Varese
Province of Varese
The Province of Varese is a province in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Varese but its largest city is Busto Arsizio....
province. The steam from each these HRSGs transfers to a 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 two 115MWe steam turbines are built by Franco Tosi Meccanica based in Legnano
Legnano
Legnano is an Italian town and comune with 59.147 inhabitants in the province of Milan, about from Milan.It's crossed by the river Olona, and it's the 13th town for inhabitants in Lombardy....
in the Italian province of Milan
Province of Milan
The Province of Milan : /) is a province in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Milan. The provincial territory is highly urbanized, resulting in the third highest population density among the Italian provinces with more than 2,000 inhabitants/km2, just behind the provinces of...
. There are also two auxiliary boilers. Each boiler can provide 50% of the steam needs (at 50bar
Bar (unit)
The bar is a unit of pressure equal to 100 kilopascals, and roughly equal to the atmospheric pressure on Earth at sea level. Other units derived from the bar are the megabar , kilobar , decibar , centibar , and millibar...
) for each refinery. It normally exports around a minimum of 150MW to the National Grid, but this can be increased depending on the needs of the Grid and the two refineries. The plant is about 70% thermally efficient
Thermal efficiency
In thermodynamics, the thermal efficiency is a dimensionless performance measure of a device that uses thermal energy, such as an internal combustion engine, a boiler, a furnace, or a refrigerator for example.-Overview:...
. The refinery operations need around 25MW of electricity. Each steam turbine uses a maximum of 300 tonnes of steam per hour. Around 190 tonnes per hour of steam goes to the Humber Refinery, and around 160 tonnes per hour goes to the Lindsey Refinery.
Future of the plant
In October 2006, ConocoPhillips approved a £210m extension of the plant to produce 1,180MW. The new Phase II plant is expected to be opened in the summer of 2009, producing an extra 450MW. It will consist of one 285MWe gas turbine, one HRSG and a 200MWe steam turbine. Due to a strike2009 Lindsey Oil Refinery strikes
The 2009 Lindsey Oil Refinery strikes were a series of wildcat strikes that affected the energy industry in the United Kingdom in 2009. The action involved workers at around a dozen energy sites across the UK who walked out in support of other British workers at the Total's Lindsey Oil Refinery...
in 2009, some construction workers have not been on site.
External links
- CCGTs in northern England
- ConocoPhillips site
- UK operations of ConocoPhillips
- Combined Heat and Power Association
- Possible carbon-capture project (PDF)