Rocksavage Power Station
Encyclopedia
Rocksavage Power Station is a 800MWe gas-fired power station on Cow Hey Lane near Runcorn
just off the A557, at the junction of the River Weaver
and River Mersey
, and near junction 12 of the M56
.
and GMR Infrastructure. It cost £375m, being situated in the borough of Halton
. The EPC contractor was Bechtel. The site trades as Rocksavage Power Company Ltd. It sponsors the Runcorn Jets baseball club, the Highfield Male Voice Choir, and the Weston Angling Club. The site has a visitor centre for schoolchildren. The name comes from the nearby ruined Elizabethan mansion, Rocksavage
.
-type power station that uses natural gas
. It has two Alstom
260MWe GT26A gas turbines, with an Alstom heat recovery steam generator each that produces steam for one ABB 280MWe steam turbine
. The plant runs at 58% thermal efficiency
.
300MWe is used by the Ineos
site (previously ICI
) at Weston Point that makes hydrofluororcarbon
s (HFCs), and the other 400MWe is sold by Scottish and Southern Energy (formerly Scottish Hydro) for electricity supply.
Runcorn
Runcorn is an industrial town and cargo port within the borough of Halton in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. In 2009, its population was estimated to be 61,500. The town is on the southern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form Runcorn Gap. Directly to the north...
just off the A557, at the junction of the River Weaver
River Weaver
The River Weaver is a river, navigable in its lower reaches, running in a curving route anti-clockwise across west Cheshire, northern England. Improvements to the river to make it navigable were authorised in 1720 and the work, which included eleven locks, was completed in 1732...
and River Mersey
River Mersey
The River Mersey is a river in North West England. It is around long, stretching from Stockport, Greater Manchester, and ending at Liverpool Bay, Merseyside. For centuries, it formed part of the ancient county divide between Lancashire and Cheshire....
, and near junction 12 of the M56
M56 motorway
The M56 Motorway, also known as the North Cheshire motorway, is in Cheshire and Greater Manchester, England. It runs from Junction 4 of the M60 to Dunkirk, Cheshire and is in length. It is often busy with long-distance commuter traffic towards North Wales...
.
History
It was opened by the Queen on July 31 1998, being owned by InterGen, a company that is now jointly owned by Ontario Teachers' Pension PlanOntario Teachers' Pension Plan
The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan , commonly referred to as Teachers, is the organization responsible for administering pensions for public school teachers of the Canadian province of Ontario. The OTPP also invests the plan's pension fund, making it one of the largest and most powerful investment...
and GMR Infrastructure. It cost £375m, being situated in the borough of Halton
Halton (borough)
Halton is a local government district in North West England, with borough status and administered by a unitary authority. It was created in 1974 as a district of Cheshire, and became a unitary authority area on 1 April 1998. It consists of the towns of Widnes and Runcorn and the civil parishes of...
. The EPC contractor was Bechtel. The site trades as Rocksavage Power Company Ltd. It sponsors the Runcorn Jets baseball club, the Highfield Male Voice Choir, and the Weston Angling Club. The site has a visitor centre for schoolchildren. The name comes from the nearby ruined Elizabethan mansion, Rocksavage
Rocksavage
Rocksavage or Rock Savage was an Elizabethan mansion, now in ruins, at in Clifton , Cheshire, England. Built for Sir John Savage, MP in 1565–8, Rocksavage was one of the great Elizabethan houses of the county; in 1674, it was the second largest house in Cheshire. James I visited in 1617...
.
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 that uses natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
. It has two Alstom
Alstom
Alstom is a large multinational conglomerate which holds interests in the power generation and transport markets. According to the company website, in the years 2010-2011 Alstom had annual sales of over €20.9 billion, and employed more than 85,000 people in 70 countries. Alstom's headquarters are...
260MWe GT26A gas turbines, with an Alstom heat recovery steam generator each that produces steam for one ABB 280MWe 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 plant runs at 58% thermal efficiency
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:...
.
300MWe is used by the Ineos
Ineos
INEOS Group Limited is a privately owned multinational chemicals company headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland and with its registered office in Lyndhurst, United Kingdom...
site (previously ICI
Imperial Chemical Industries
Imperial Chemical Industries was a British chemical company, taken over by AkzoNobel, a Dutch conglomerate, one of the largest chemical producers in the world. In its heyday, ICI was the largest manufacturing company in the British Empire, and commonly regarded as a "bellwether of the British...
) at Weston Point that makes hydrofluororcarbon
Haloalkane
The haloalkanes are a group of chemical compounds derived from alkanes containing one or more halogens. They are a subset of the general class of halocarbons, although the distinction is not often made. Haloalkanes are widely used commercially and, consequently, are known under many chemical and...
s (HFCs), and the other 400MWe is sold by Scottish and Southern Energy (formerly Scottish Hydro) for electricity supply.