UK utility SSE will wait until the results of the UK's first capacity market auction in December are released before making any investment decisions for its planned and existing thermal generation plant.
The outcome of the capacity market auction, scheduled to be held on 16 December, will determine whether SSE continues to pursue the planned development of the 470MW Abernedd combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant in south Wales. And final investment decisions for its 710MW Keadby 2 and 1.4GW Seabank 3 CCGT projects are unlikely to be made until at least 2016, the company said in its first half-year results for the financial year.
SSE had 7.2GW of de-rated generation capacity pre-qualify for the capacity market auction and the results are also likely to dictate its plans for its existing plant, it said.
The company would have entered its existing 735MW Keadby gas-fired power station, which was mothballed in March 2012, into UK transmission system operator National Grid's supplementary balancing reserve (SBR) tender for winter 2014-15, but a delay to the tender process meant that its participation was not possible. But the plant would be able to generate in the future, if required, SSE said. The utility's Peterhead gas-fired power plant was contracted by National Grid for the SBR and can provide up to 780MW of additional capacity to the market if required this winter.
SSE will continue to monitor the development of the UK's transitional national plan (TNP) for the EU's industrial emissions directive (IED) before deciding whether to include its 1GW Ferrybridge coal-fired power plant under the scheme. The plant is currently opted into the IED's limited life derogation, which would allow it to run for a maximum of 17,500 hours from 1 January 2016 and must close before the end of 2023. But the TNP would give the company until 2020 to decide whether it wishes to invest in making the plant compliant with new emissions requirements.
SSE said it was exploring options which could allow the 490MW unit 4 at Ferrybridge to return to service this winter. The unit's absorber was damaged during a fire at the plant in July and the unit was previously not expected to return to service this financial year.
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