List of active natural gas power stations in the United Kingdom explained

As of 2023 there are 35 active gas fired combined cycle power plants and 14 single cycle power plants operating in the United Kingdom, which have a total generating capacity of 35.7 GW.^[1]

Decline of gas for power in the United Kingdom

In 2016 gas fired power stations generated a total of 127 TWh of electricity. Generation has dropped to 119 TWh in 2017, 115 TWh in 2018, 114 TWh in 2019 and 95 TWh in 2020. The decline is largely due to the increase in renewable sources outweighing the decline of coal, and an overall reduction in demand.^[2]

Phase-out of coal in the United Kingdom

In November 2015, the UK Government announced that all the remaining fourteen coal-fired power stations would be closed by 2025.^[3] In November 2017 the UK Government co-founded the Powering Past Coal Alliance. In June 2021, the government said it would end coal power by October 2024.^{[4] [5]}

The United Kingdom had continuously burned coal for the generation of electricity since the opening of Holborn Viaduct power station in 1882. On 21 April 2017, for the first time since 1882, the GB grid had a 24-hour period without any generation from coal power.^[6] In May 2019 the GB grid went its first full week without any coal power.^[7] In May 2020 the GB grid beat the previous record and did not use coal generation for over a month.^[8]

By 2023, the use of coal power had decreased to historic lows not seen since before the Industrial Revolution. Coal supplied just over 1% of UK electricity in 2023,^[9] down from 30% in 2014.^[10] In 2020, coal produced 4.4 TWh of electricity and Britain went 5,202 hours free from coal electricity generation, up from 3,665 hours in 2019 and 1,856 in 2018.^[11] UK electricity became entirely coal-free on 30 September 2024.^[12]

List of active gas power stations

^[13]

Name! scope="col"

Location	Owner	Date Commissioned	Planned Closure Date	Total capacity (GW)	Notes	Image
Ballylumford C	Northern Ireland	EPUKi	2003		0.62
Carrington	North West	ESB	2016		0.91
Connahs Quay	Wales	Uniper	1996		1.38	Fuelled by sour gas
Coolkeeragh	Northern Ireland	ESB	2004		0.41
Corby	East Midlands	ESB	1994		0.41
Coryton	East England	Intergen	2002		0.80
Cottam Development Centre	East Midlands	Uniper	1998		0.45
Damhead Creek	South East	Vitol	2000		0.81
Didcot B	South East	RWE npower	1998		1.45
Enfield	London	Uniper	1999		0.41
Grain CHP	South East	Uniper	2011		1.52
Great Yarmouth	East England	RWE npower	2001		0.42
Keadby	Yorkshire and Humber	SSE plc	1994		0.74
Langage	South West	EPUKi	2010		0.91
Little Barford	East England	RWE npower	1995		0.72
Marchwood	South East	Marchwood Power	2009		0.90
Medway	South East	SSE plc	1995		0.76
Pembroke B	Wales	RWE npower	2012		2.20
Peterhead	Scotland	SSE plc	2000		1.18
Rocksavage	North West	Intergen	1998		0.81
Rye House	East England	Vitol	1993		0.72
Saltend	Yorkshire and Humber	Energy Capital Partners	2000		1.20
Seabank	South West	Seabank Power	2000		1.23
Shoreham	South East	Vitol	2000		0.42
South Humber Bank	Yorkshire and Humber	EPUKi	1997		1.37
Spalding	East Midlands	Intergen	2004		0.95
Staythorpe C	East Midlands	RWE npower	2010		1.77	Built on the site of two former CEGB coal-fired power stations, the 360 MW Staythorpe A and B^[14]
VPI Immingham	Yorkshire and Humber	Vitol	2004		1.25
West Burton B	East Midlands	EIG Global Energy Partners	2013		1.33	Sold By EDF Energy to EIG in 2021^[15]

See also

• List of power stations in England
• List of power stations in Northern Ireland
• List of power stations in Scotland
• List of power stations in Wales
• List of electricity interconnectors in the United Kingdom

Notes and References

1. Web site: Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES): electricity . 2023-09-30 . GOV.UK . en.
2. Web site: Drax Electric Insights. 2021-01-01. Drax Electric Insights. Drax Group.
3. News: Gosden . Emily . 18 November 2015 . UK coal plants must close by 2025, Amber Rudd announces . 7 March 2016 . . London.
4. Web site: 30 June 2021 . UK to end coal power by 2024 .
5. Web site: End to coal power brought forward to October 2024 . 7 March 2022 . gov.uk.
6. News: 22 April 2017 . British power generation achieves first ever coal-free day . 24 April 2017 . . London.
7. News: 8 May 2019 . Britain passes one week without coal power for first time since 1882 . 10 May 2019 . . London.
8. News: 11 May 2020 . Britain hits coal-free month milestone as demand remains low . 3 June 2020 . . London.
9. News: 21 February 2024 . Analysis: UK electricity from fossil fuels drops to lowest level since 1957 . CarbonBrief . www.carbonbrief.org.
10. News: Evans . Simon . 10 February 2016 . Countdown to 2025: Tracking the UK coal phase out . 7 March 2016 . Carbon Brief.
11. Web site: Coal Tracker – MyGridGB .
12. Web site: 2024-09-30 . UK to close last coal power station after 142 years . 2024-12-01 . BBC News . en-GB.
13. Web site: Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES): electricity. 14 December 2020. GOV.UK. Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. en. 2020-12-14.
14. Web site: E.ON Next.
15. News: 2021-08-31. Completion of sale of West Burton B CCGT to EIG. en-GB. EDF Energy. 2023-03-06.