Tuesday 29 July 2014

London gas plant set to Bark no more?

The owners of Barking power station in east London could shut up shop in two years because it is no longer economic to run a gas plant.

Today Barking Power announced talks with staff on closing the 1,000 megawatt (MW) combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant – one of the more efficient types.

But the station was built in the early 1990s and fired up in 1995 and so has a lower thermal efficiency than more recent ones.

In a statement the firm blamed “the current adverse market conditions for gas fired power generation”.

Run by Thames Power Services, the plant employs 38 people.