Triton Power’s Deeside power station will now be providing vital support to the NationalgridESO in a six-year-long contract by repurposing their gas turbines.

Triton Power is a private independent power generator that provides power to the wholesale market. They have agreed to a six-year synchronous compensation contract with the NationalgridESO to provide a crucial level of security to the UK’s power system.

The contract will utilise Triton Power’s Deeside power station which has been shut down and preserved since March 2018. Deeside is home to two Combined Cycle Gas Turbines (CCGTs), two steam generators and one steam turbine.

Under the terms of the contract, the Deeside power station will repurpose their CCGTs to provide inertia and reactive power to the grid and reduce the risk of power cuts by balancing supply and demand. The remaining steam generators and turbines at the power station will remain preserved.

By using small amounts of power from the grid the CCGTs can provide inertia which will keep the grid running at the right frequency. This was previously achieved as a by-product of large generators producing kinetic energy when supplying power to the grid. So the CCGTs will not need to produce power to provide this service resulting in fewer emissions.

This will be a world-first approach to power system security and will make a significant contribution to net-zero goals whilst ensuring stability to a renewable reliant power system. NationalgridESO says that this process will save consumers up to £128 million throughout the contract and provide the equivalent inertia to five coal power stations.

Head of Networks at NationalgridESO, Julian Leslie, said:

“Seeing Triton Power’s transformation of Deeside Power Station – from burning gas to just providing stability services to the grid – is incredibly exciting. Innovations such as this, part of our new approach to system stability, are cheaper and greener than the alternative, reducing emissions and saving money for electricity consumers. Our stability pathfinder – creating a market for inertia and other stability services – is the first of its kind anywhere in the world and is a huge step forward in our ambition to be able to operate the GB electricity system carbon-free by 2025.”