UK Power Reserve’s Carrington Gas Fired Power Station nearing Completion 

UKPR on Track to Deliver 500MW of Capacity – Largest Expansion of New Embedded Gas-Fired Generation in UK and EU 

7 June 2016 (Solihull) – New gas-fired generator sets have been delivered to Carrington power station, the first of leading independent electricity generator UK Power Reserve’s (UKPR) 26 development sites. When its construction programme completes in 2018, UKPR’s total portfolio will nearly quadruple to 693MW – the largest portfolio of its kind in the UK and EU.

UKPR is currently building gas fired power stations comprising in excess of 500MW of flexible, efficient rapid response power capacity for the UK market. Its generation helps balance supply and demand for electricity, particularly at times when the gap between the two is tight.

Produced by global power generation equipment manufacturer Cummins Power Generation, the first fleet of generator sets have arrived at UKPR’s Carrington, Manchester site which will house ten of these containerized units, or around 20MW of capacity. That’s enough to power more than 20,000 homes. The 35 ton generators were moved into position using a crane with a lift capacity of 250-tonnes.

UKPR’s Carrington site – as well as similar sites in Gloucester, Immingham, and Tonypandy – will be operational by the end of this summer. Many others, including sites in Tottenham, Bracknell, and Hemel Hempstead, will be commissioned in Autumn 2016.

Tim Emrich, CEO and founder of UK Power Reserve, said: “In December 2014, we successfully won 348MW worth of new build contracts in the UK Capacity Market Auction, split across 22 sites, more than any other participant. To achieve this ambitious plan UKPR has assembled a dedicated development team of energy and utility engineers, legal counsel, planning officers and more, in a major resource expansion. In December 2015 UKPR successfully won a further 160MW worth of new build contracts in the second UK Capacity Market Auction. In both of the initial two Capacity Market auctions we have led all embedded generation in total new MW and we look forward to bringing this and additional capacity online to secure the UK’s energy supply for many years to come. 

“I applaud Government and OFGEM’s endorsement of independent embedded generation in the UK through the annual Capacity Market, and I’m proud of our pole position in this energy revolution which finds decentralised, independent generation providing more and more of our country’s power.” 

Mel Woodruff, Cummins product manager, commented: “UKPR has chosen to partner with Cummins for a number of key reasons, including support from global resources, customer service, leading-edge technologies, and a strong supply chain. The generator sets delivered to the Carrington site are just a part of a whole turnkey solution that will provide UKPR with efficient, cost effective and fast-6th Floor, Radcliffe House, Blenheim Court, Solihull, B91 2AA, 0121 712 1987 www.ukpowerreserve.com

responding power. We, at Cummins, are very excited about this and look forward to launching further sites this year.” 

In 2014, UK Power Reserve placed one of the largest global natural gas generating set orders of its kind with Cummins, the turnkey contractors for the current development project. Cummins and UK Power Reserve have forged a strong working relationship and are aiming to deliver the total planned generating capacity well ahead of the contracted deadline. Much of Cummins’ supply chain and factories are UK-based.

A typical UK Power Reserve generating plant consists of a series of modular natural gas generators producing an aggregated export of 20MW along with the associated balance of plant. These sites are designed in such a way that they can be controlled and monitored remotely from the UKPR ‘virtual power plant’ based in Solihull and are called upon to operate in the wholesale and ancillary services markets to help balance supply and demand in real time.

ENDS

For more information please contact UKPR’s communications team at [email protected] or call +44 (0) 7471 037489

Notes to Editors 

About UK Power Reserve 

UK Power Reserve is a leading independent operator of smart, clean electricity generation assets. It has developed, built and acquired 14 power stations, or a total of 185 megawatts of capacity, and is building 26 additional gas-powered stations. This will take its portfolio to nearly 700 megawatts within two years. These small, flexible and rapid response power stations help the UK achieve its energy security of supply, affordability and decarbonisation ambitions.

UKPR help the network operators such as National Grid (NG) and the Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) manage the increasing challenges of balancing UK electricity supply and demand. The company’s power stations are situated close to sources of high demand across the UK and provide efficient and effective energy to the market when its needed the most. This distributed capacity provides helps to counter supply issues or system volatility and keep the overall system balanced so that the lights don’t go out.

UKPR is an active participant in the UK’s Capacity Market Auctions which are designed to incentivize and guarantee a secure and clean UK energy supply. UKPR also provides additional energy services by participating in National Grid’s ancillary services for energy and system balancing actions to address energy shortfalls that occur in real time either as a result of a renewable forecast error or a large power station suffering an unexpected fault. 6th Floor, Radcliffe House, Blenheim Court, Solihull, B91 2AA, 0121 712 1987 www.ukpowerreserve.com

The company’s highly skilled staff of 100 provide services to other businesses including control and monitoring and maintenance of power generation assets, and advice on site acquisitions, demand side management and trading optimisation.

The company was founded in 2010 and is majority owned by two private equity backers, Equistone and Inflexion.

Cummins 

Cummins Power Generation, a subsidiary of Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI), is a global leader dedicated to increasing the availability and reliability of electric power around the world. With more than 90 years of experience, its global network of distributors in more than 190 countries delivers innovative solutions for any power need – commercial, industrial, recreational, emergency and residential. Products include alternators, generator-drive engines and pre-integrated power systems, combining generator sets with power control and transfer technologies.

Services range from system design, project management, operations and maintenance contracts to development of turnkey power plants. Cummins Power Generation products include diesel and alternative-fuelled electrical generator sets from 6 to 2,750 kW, alternators from 0.6 KVA to 30,000 KVA, transfer switches from 40 amps to 3,000 amps, paralleling switchgear and generator set controls.