Cooling Tower Fire Takes Down UK Power Plant
A fire broke out in one of Didcot B power station’s cooling tower modules on the evening of Oct. 19, resulting in the shutdown of one of the plant’s two units.
RWE Generation said that no RWE personnel or emergency services responders were injured during the incident, and that all employees have been accounted for. The company said that the cause of the incident is still under investigation, and that it is too early to speculate how long repairs will take.
Didcot B is a 1,360-MW dual unit gas-fired combined cycle power plant located about 55 miles west of London. It began commercial operation in 1997, and shares its site with the coal-fired Didcot A plant, which closed in March 2013. The cooling tower module affected by the fire supplies cooling water to one of the two gas units, so output from the station has been cut in half.
RWE said staff at the plant are specifically trained to deal with emergencies such as fires, and that three emergency services groups provided swift and effective action to put out the blaze.
According to Oxfordshire County Council Fire and Rescue Service, the fire began in one of the towers and spread to three others due to strong winds. Responders were called at about 8:10 p.m. local time and had the blaze under control at around 10 p.m. The fire was extinguished by about midnight. Three fire engines remained onsite 10 hours later, and firefighters are expected to monitor the location for an additional 24 hours.
Oxfordshire supplied 12 fire engines with more than 75 personnel at the height of the incident. Neighboring services also provided support, including an aerial appliance each from Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service and Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service.
The cooling towers at this particular facility are largely made of wood, which offered significant challenges.
“This was a serious fire,” said Simon Furlong, chief fire officer for Oxfordshire. “Oxfordshire County Council Fire and Rescue Service responded to the scene and worked well to extinguish the fire. We work closely in partnership with the power station to ensure we have plans in place should an incident of this nature actually happen.”
Edward Davey, UK secretary of state for energy and climate change, said: “I’ve been reassured by National Grid that there is no risk to electricity supplies. I will be keeping in touch with the relevant authorities throughout. My priority is to understand the cause of the fire and get the affected unit back generating electricity as soon as it’s safe to do so.”
Thames Valley Police and other agencies are investigating the incident. It is expected to take some time to determine what sparked the fire.
—Aaron Larson, associate editor (@AaronL_Power, @POWERmagazine)