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Npower (UK)
Encyclopedia
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
. In 2002 it was acquired by RWE
of Germany and was subsequently renamed RWE npower plc.
when the overseas operations were demerged as International Power
plc in 2000.
Innogy then went on to purchase the Regional Electricity Company Yorkshire Electricity
in 2001. It later disposed of the distribution side of Yorkshire Electricity to CE Electric UK
in exchange for the supply business of Northern Electric
. Innogy was taken over by the German utility giant RWE
in 2002 and renamed RWE Npower plc with all the supply business adopting the "Npower" brand.
In February 2006 Npower acquired 19% of Telecom Plus, a business which now provides Npower with management services, such as billing, customer service, metering, debt collection and administration: under the deal Npower can increase its stake in Telecom Plus up to 29%.
In 2008, npower faced allegations over the conduct of its door-to-door salespeople. An undercover investigation by a UK newspaper resulted in allegations of npower salespeople misleading potential customers, with suggestions that salespeople were 'routinely lying' and asking potential customers to 'sign a form without revealing it was a contract'. npower was eventually fined £1.8million by the UK energy regulator Ofgem. Npower have also been criticised for their customer service, having been rated the lowest of all energy suppliers in the Which? Switch 2010 customer satisfaction survey.
In 2010 npower acquired SPI Group to add to its energy services business npower hometeam. SPI provides services to the social housing market and its commercial arm serves public buildings, including schools.
Npower supplies gas and electricity to 6.5million residential and business customers in the UK. Its energy services business, npower hometeam, provides installation, servicing and repair of boilers and central heating systems. npower also supplies gas and electricity to customers of the Utility Warehouse Discount Club.
The company's main offices are in Swindon
, Wiltshire with other offices in the Midlands, Yorkshire and North East. npower has around 12,000 employees across its departments and in 2010 made an operating result of £233 million.
The company also owns Aberthaw Power Station
in the Vale of Glamorgan
in south Wales, Didcot Power Station
in Oxfordshire, Tilbury Power Station
in Essex, Little Barford Power Station
near St Neots, Great Yarmouth Power Station
, Fawley Power Station
, Tilbury Power Station
and Littlebrook Power Station
near Dartford
in Kent.
Npower supplies gas and electricity to customers of the Utility Warehouse Discount Club.
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index
FTSE 100 Index
The FTSE 100 Index, also called FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the footsie , is a share index of the 100 most highly capitalised UK companies listed on the London Stock Exchange....
. In 2002 it was acquired by 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...
of Germany and was subsequently renamed RWE npower plc.
History
The Company was established as Innogy plc from the UK operations of National PowerNational 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...
when the overseas operations were demerged as International Power
International Power
International Power PLC is an international electricity generator formed in 2000 by the demerger of National Power. It is headquartered at Senator House, 85 Queen Victoria Street in the City of London...
plc in 2000.
Innogy then went on to purchase the Regional Electricity Company Yorkshire Electricity
Yorkshire Electricity
Yorkshire Electricity was an electricity distribution utility in the UK serving much of Yorkshire and parts of Derbyshire, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire.-History:...
in 2001. It later disposed of the distribution side of Yorkshire Electricity to CE Electric UK
CE Electric UK
Northern Powergrid Holdings Company is an electrical distribution company based in Newcastle Upon Tyne in England...
in exchange for the supply business of Northern Electric
Northern Electric
Northern Electric was an electricity supply and distribution company serving north east England.-History:It had its origins as the North Eastern Electricity Board, formed as part of the nationalisation of the electricity industry by the Electricity Act 1947....
. Innogy was taken over by the German utility giant 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 2002 and renamed RWE Npower plc with all the supply business adopting the "Npower" brand.
In February 2006 Npower acquired 19% of Telecom Plus, a business which now provides Npower with management services, such as billing, customer service, metering, debt collection and administration: under the deal Npower can increase its stake in Telecom Plus up to 29%.
In 2008, npower faced allegations over the conduct of its door-to-door salespeople. An undercover investigation by a UK newspaper resulted in allegations of npower salespeople misleading potential customers, with suggestions that salespeople were 'routinely lying' and asking potential customers to 'sign a form without revealing it was a contract'. npower was eventually fined £1.8million by the UK energy regulator Ofgem. Npower have also been criticised for their customer service, having been rated the lowest of all energy suppliers in the Which? Switch 2010 customer satisfaction survey.
In 2010 npower acquired SPI Group to add to its energy services business npower hometeam. SPI provides services to the social housing market and its commercial arm serves public buildings, including schools.
Operations
Npower operates a number of coal, natural gas, oil-fired and renewable energy power stations across the UK, with coal and gas accounting for 81% of their output as of 2005.Npower supplies gas and electricity to 6.5million residential and business customers in the UK. Its energy services business, npower hometeam, provides installation, servicing and repair of boilers and central heating systems. npower also supplies gas and electricity to customers of the Utility Warehouse Discount Club.
The company's main offices are in 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...
, Wiltshire with other offices in the Midlands, Yorkshire and North East. npower has around 12,000 employees across its departments and in 2010 made an operating result of £233 million.
The company also owns Aberthaw Power Station
Aberthaw Power Station
Aberthaw Power Station refers to a series of two coal-fired power stations situated on the coast of South Wales, near Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan. It is actually located on the waterfront of the nearby villages of Gileston and West Aberthaw on Limpert Bay...
in the Vale of Glamorgan
Vale of Glamorgan
The Vale of Glamorgan is a county borough in Wales; an exceptionally rich agricultural area, it lies in the southern part of Glamorgan, South Wales...
in south Wales, Didcot Power Station
Didcot Power Station
Didcot Power Station refers to a combined coal and oil power plant and a natural-gas power plant that supply the National Grid. They are situated immediately adjoining one another in the civil parish of Sutton Courtenay, next to the town of Didcot in Oxfordshire , in the UK...
in Oxfordshire, Tilbury Power Station
Tilbury Power Station
The Tilbury power stations refer to a series of two power stations on the north bank of the River Thames at Tilbury, in Essex, England. The 1,428 MW Tilbury B Power Station has operated since 1967 and fires coal, as well as co-firing oil and biomass. The former oil-fired 360 megawatts ...
in Essex, Little Barford Power Station
Little Barford Power Station
Little Barford Power Station is a 680MWe gas-fired power station just north of the village of Little Barford 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.-History:It is built on the site of a former...
near St Neots, Great Yarmouth Power Station
Great Yarmouth Power Station
Great Yarmouth Power Station is Combined Cycle Gas Turbine power station on South Denes Road in Great Yarmouth in Norfolk with a maximum output of 420MW electricity, opened in 2001. It is built on the site of an oil-fired power station, built in 1958 and closed and demolished in the 1990s...
, Fawley Power Station
Fawley Power Station
Fawley Power Station is an oil-fired power station located on the western side of Southampton Water, between the villages of Fawley and Calshot in Hampshire...
, Tilbury Power Station
Tilbury Power Station
The Tilbury power stations refer to a series of two power stations on the north bank of the River Thames at Tilbury, in Essex, England. The 1,428 MW Tilbury B Power Station has operated since 1967 and fires coal, as well as co-firing oil and biomass. The former oil-fired 360 megawatts ...
and Littlebrook Power Station
Littlebrook Power Station
Littlebrook Power Station refers to a series of four oil and coal-fired power stations situated on the south bank of the River Thames, next to the Queen Elizabeth 2 Bridge and the Dartford Tunnel in Dartford, Kent.-Littlebrook A:...
near Dartford
Dartford
Dartford is the principal town in the borough of Dartford. It is situated in the northwest corner of Kent, England, east south-east of central London....
in Kent.
Npower supplies gas and electricity to customers of the Utility Warehouse Discount Club.
Carbon intensity of electricity production
| Year | Production (TWh TWH TWH or twh could refer to:*Tennessee Walking Horse, a breed of horse* Toronto Western Hospital, a hospital in Toronto, Canada* TWH Bus & Coach, a bus company in Romford, England* Terrawatt-hour, measure of electrical energy, 1012 watt-hours... ) |
Emission (Gt CO2) | kg CO2/MWh |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 35 | 21.5 | 623 |
| 2003 | 38 | 27.5 | 726 |
| 2004 | 34 | 23.1 | 681 |
| 2005 | 33 | 22.7 | 680 |
| 2006 | 37 | 24.7 | 677 |
| 2007 | 34 | 22 | 651 |
| 2008 | 38 | 25 | 665 |
| 2009 | 27 | 16.6 | 622 |
See also
- Energy policy of the United KingdomEnergy policy of the United KingdomThe current energy policy of the United Kingdom is set out in the Energy White Paper of May 2007 and Low Carbon Transition Plan of July 2009, building on previous work including the 2003 Energy White Paper and the Energy Review Report in 2006...
- Energy use and conservation in the United KingdomEnergy use and conservation in the United KingdomEnergy use in the United Kingdom stood at 3,894.6 kilogrammes of oil equivalent per capita in 2005 compared to a world average of 1,778.0. In 2008, total energy consumed was 9.85 exajoules - around 2% of the estimated 474 EJ worldwide total...
- Green electricity in the United KingdomGreen electricity in the United KingdomThere are a number of suppliers offering 'green' electricity in the United Kingdom, either supplying electricity from existing environmentally friendly energy sources, promising to invest a proportion of profits into new renewable energy generating capacity, carrying out carbon offsetting, or some...