GAS ENGINES


Gas engine plants support the UK’s need for fast- starting flexibility


The rapid growth in renewable energy in the UK has


increased the need for flexible power to balance the electricity grid. Wärtsilä has worked closely with energy and services company Centrica to provide the changing market with flexible energy, helping tackle the issues created by intermittent renewables and supporting the transition to a low-carbon energy system, reports UKPN.


the country. This development has been driven by


I


government policies and advances in technology. In 2017, the UK saw the greenest year in its history in terms of energy generation and the government is working towards seeing all of the UK’s remaining coal power stations closed by 2025. While the increasing use of renewable


power is reducing the country’s carbon foot- print, these new sources of energy also need sufficient and reliable back up capacity for balancing the grid. One way to do this during peak times is to have power sources that can be switched on rapidly to ensure that the country doesn’t shut down. Wärtsilä has delivered two 50 MW power


plants to Centrica, a British multi-national energy and services company. Both these


n the UK, the energy system is becoming increasingly distributed and low-carbon due to the growing share of renewables and old baseload plants closing across


plants, based on five Wärtsilä 34SG engines and running on natural gas, will balance the stability of the grid. The two-minute, fast- starting flexibility of the Wärtsilä solution will aid with local peaks in demand and the inevitable fluctuations in supply from renewable sources. This operational flexibility provided by Wärtsilä ensures that energy is available when the supply from renewables drop. Centrica’s two plants are located in Brigg in


North East Lincolnshire and Peterborough in Cambridgeshire. They are the biggest medium-speed engine-based gas power plants in the UK, offering electricity for about 100,000 households in less than two minutes after they’ve been switched on. Wärtsilä has delivered engineering, pro-


curement and construction (EPC) for both sites, bringing Wärtsilä’s installed capacity in the country to over 250 MW. Mark Futyan, Distributed Power Systems Director from Centrica Business Solutions


Centrica’s Brigg power plant.


“The UK is the leading


country in


shaping the electricity


markets and Centrica is one of its leading


operators. Today,


renewable


power sources provide


roughly 25% of the


country’s total


generation capacity,


compared to 5% in 2006,


and the share is increasing all the time.”


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believes that fast-response plants are crucial for the country’s energy transition. “As we utilise more and more renewable


and distributed power sources, the situation gets increasingly difficult to manage,” he notes. “It’s a common trend everywhere, but particularly in regions where renewables are prevalent.” Thus, Centrica’s strategy recently has


been to focus on providing flexibility in order to keep the grid stable. When looking for partners for the Brigg and Peterborough projects, the company wanted to find some- one with a solid track record of delivering quality products safely. Wärtsilä, in Futyan’s words, ticked all the boxes. “The under two-minute start up time that


Wärtsilä’s solutions deliver is a rare feature and very important to the UK grid,” Futyan says. “The UK is the leading country in shaping


the electricity markets and Centrica is one of its leading operators. Today, renewable power sources provide roughly 25% of the country’s total generation capacity, compared to 5% in 2006, and the share is increasing all the time. To support this trend, fast-starting, flexible generation is essential,” adds Bent Iversen, Senior Business Development Manager, Wärtsilä Energy Solutions. The co-operation between the two


companies has been running smoothly throughout the project. According to Futyan, the close


collaboration ranges from senior management to staff on the ground. “We have been working in a shared office


at the site and are collaborating well at all levels, including working together on sourc- ing future investment opportunities.” Futyan notes that the market has changed


in the past few years, as many other firms have tapped into the opportunities brought about by the need for flexible energy generation. This has increased competition and brought down power plant operating costs. www.wartsila.com www.centrica.com


SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2018 UK POwER NEwS 34SG engines.


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