Keadby Power Station

  • Category: Thermal
  • Energy type: Gas
  • Project type: Asset

Our existing gas-fired power station known as Keadby 1 in North Lincolnshire, England has been operating in the local area since 1996.  It has a generation capacity of 735MW.  

Keadby Power Station to re-open

On Tuesday 20th October 2015 SSE confirmed the re-opening of Keadby power station following announcements earlier this year of its intent for the plant to return to service.

Details of the announcement can be found here.

Keadby 2 proposal

Planning permission for a second 710MW CCGT plant at Keadby, known as Keadby 2 was granted in 1993. We are in the process of refining the planning consent to ensure that the new facility can make use of the most effective technology. We do not expect to make an investment decision to construct this project until 2016 at the earliest.

More information can be found here.

Keadby wind farm

SSE Renewables, the renewable energy development division of SSE, acquired the Keadby wind farm project, located close by to the Keadby 1 power station, in May 2011. The project had previously been developed by the RES Group and received planning consent in 2008.

Keadby Wind Farm became fully operational in summer 2014. It has 34 turbines, making it England’s largest onshore wind farm.

For more information please visit the project's dedicated page.

More information

Keadby Power Station information

Announcement made in March 2013

Our existing gas-fired power station known as Keadby 1 in North Lincolnshire, England has been operating in the local area since 1996. It has a generation capaity of 735MW.

In the light of challenging market conditions for gas-fired generation, SSE has undertaken a comprehensive £100m programme of upgrade works at its Keadby and Medway gas-fired power stations. The works have included upgrades to gas turbines, steam turbines, boilers and process control systems and have been designed to increase the flexibility and efficiency of the plants. The upgrade programme at both Keadby and Medway has proceeded successfully and is now complete. Both plants are now ready to be recommissioned.

The economics of electricity generation at gas-fired power stations remain very poor, with spark spreads - the difference between the cost of gas (plus carbon) and the price of the electricity generated from it - at historic lows and even turning negative on several occasions. When combined with ongoing uncertainty about the timing and future operation of a capacity mechanism for existing gas-fired generation plant, SSE has concluded that now is not the right time to bring Keadby back into operation.

Keadby will therefore be ‘deep mothballed’ – effectively meaning the plant at the power station will require up to one year to recommission. This decision will mean the immediate withdrawal of all 735MW of capacity at Keadby. SSE will continually monitor market conditions but it expects Keadby to remain in this state for at least the next two years. Nevertheless, if and when it is required to generate electricity in the future, Keadby will be able to operate in a more flexible and efficient way as a result of the investment made during 2012/13. SSE would also expect to bring this capacity back into operation before commissioning any new investment in gas-fired capacity.

The ‘deep mothballing’ will be a phased process over several months and is expected to be complete by late summer. There will also be a phased reduction in the 55 roles on the site, with around 40 roles expected to be lost in total by the end of the summer. A total of between 10 to 15 employees will remain at the plant. SSE has a range of alternative local employment opportunities across its businesses which are available to the skilled employees affected by this decision. These include locally, at Ferrybridge, Aldbrough (its gas storage facility) and its new wind farm development under construction immediately adjacent to the Keadby site. Consequently it has been able to identify redeployment opportunities for the vast majority of the people affected by this change.

A further 25MW of emergency gas turbine generation maintained at Keadby will also be ‘deep mothballed’.

Capacity Market Auction Information

Keadby Capacity Markey Auction Factsheet