Seabank Power Station is a 1,140 MW
gas-fired power station
A gas-fired power plant or gas-fired power station or natural gas power plant is a thermal power station which burns natural gas to generate electricity. Natural gas power stations generate almost a quarter of world electricity and a signi ...
at
Hallen Marsh in
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city i ...
, England. It is situated beside the
A403 road
The A403 is a main road linking Bristol with the Severn Estuary. It runs from junction 1 of the M48 at Aust to the docks at Avonmouth. After the Severn Bridge was opened in 1966, the A403 was constructed in 1969 and 1970 to provide a direct rou ...
and
Severn Estuary
The Severn Estuary ( cy, Aber Hafren) is the estuary of the River Severn, flowing into the Bristol Channel between South West England and South Wales. Its high tidal range, approximately , means that it has been at the centre of discussions in t ...
, just north of
Avonmouth
Avonmouth is a port and outer suburb of Bristol, England, facing two rivers: the reinforced north bank of the final stage of the Avon which rises at sources in Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Somerset; and the eastern shore of the Severn E ...
and south of
Severn Beach
Severn Beach is a village on the Severn Estuary in South Gloucestershire, England. The eastern portal of the Severn Tunnel is on the outskirts of the village. The Severn footpathon the sea wallis part of the Severn Way that leads from Gloucester ...
, close to the boundary with
South Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, South West England. Towns in the area include Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Thornbury, Filton, Patchway and Bradley Stoke, the latter three forming par ...
. It is next to the former Terra Nitrogen
Severnside
The geographical term Severnside refers to an area adjoining or straddling the River Severn or its estuary in Great Britain.
The term is used by different organisations, in different contexts, to refer to quite different areas. The Severn pas ...
fertiliser works, which was closed by
Growhow UK in January 2008.
The £435million plant is run as Seabank Power Ltd. The initial partners in the company were
BG Group
BG Group plc was a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in Reading, United Kingdom. On 8 April 2015, Royal Dutch Shell announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire BG Group for $70 billion, subject to regulatory an ...
(former part of
British Gas
British Gas (trading as Scottish Gas in Scotland) is an energy and home services provider in the United Kingdom. It is the trading name of British Gas Services Limited and British Gas New Heating Limited, both subsidiaries of Centrica. Servi ...
) and
Scottish and Southern Energy
SSE plc (formerly Scottish and Southern Energy plc) is a multinational energy company headquartered in Perth, Scotland. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange, and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. SSE operates in the United Kingdom a ...
(SSE), however in 2010 BG Group, as part of its reorganisation sold its 50% share of the plant to
Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Limited The company is now owned by Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Limited, and SSE.
It was built by
Siemens Power Generation and initially opened in 2000. It was built in two parts, with Seabank 1 (755 MW) started in January 1996 and completed in March 2000. Seabank 2 (385 MW) was started in January 1999 and was completed in January 2001. The station has a number of
step up transformer
A transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces a varying magnetic flux in the transformer's ...
s that allow connection to the
National Grid high voltage electricity transmission system via the Seabank 400kV
GIS
A geographic information system (GIS) is a type of database containing geographic data (that is, descriptions of phenomena for which location is relevant), combined with software tools for managing, analyzing, and visualizing those data. In a ...
substation. The power plant provides enough electricity for approximately 1.6 million people.
Seabank is a
Combined cycle gas turbine
A combined cycle power plant is an assembly of heat engines that work in tandem from the same source of heat, converting it into mechanical energy. On land, when used to make electricity the most common type is called a combined cycle gas turb ...
(CCGT) type power station that runs on natural gas. The Gas is supplied to the station via the company's own 74-bar pipeline that runs from a gas compressor station near
Abson
Abson is a small village in South Gloucestershire, England, it forms part of the civil parish of Wick and Abson.
Location
Abson is located on a minor road between the villages of Wick and Pucklechurch. It is a mainly nucleated in pattern wit ...
in Pucklechurch, Bristol through South Gloucestershire to the station. The station can also utilise the local gas connection, that was used to connect the previous Seabank
Naptha
Naphtha ( or ) is a flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixture.
Mixtures labelled ''naphtha'' have been produced from natural gas condensates, petroleum distillates, and the distillation of coal tar and peat. In different industries and regions ''n ...
/
Gas Cracking station that occupied the site prior to the power station. The section first built consists of two Siemens V94.3A
gas turbine
A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas generator or core) and are, in the directio ...
s with two
heat recovery steam generator
A heat recovery steam generator (''HRSG'') is an energy recovery heat exchanger that recovers heat from a hot gas stream, such as a combustion turbine or other waste gas stream. It produces steam that can be used in a process ( cogeneration) or ...
s (HRSG) and a
steam turbine
A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turb ...
. The next built section consists of one V94.3A gas turbine, an HRSG and one steam turbine.
It has a 55%
thermal efficiency
In thermodynamics, the thermal efficiency (\eta_) is a dimensionless performance measure of a device that uses thermal energy, such as an internal combustion engine, steam turbine, steam engine, boiler, furnace, refrigerator, ACs etc.
For a ...
. The HRSGs were built by Standard Fasel Lentjes (known as SFL and now owned by NEM Energy) and Stork Power Services, both Dutch companies.
References
External links
Scottish and Southern Energy
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Natural gas-fired power stations in England
Buildings and structures in Bristol
Power stations in South West England