Central Electricity Generating Board - Privatisation

Privatisation

The present electricity market in the UK was built upon the breakup of the CEGB into four separate companies in the 1990's. Its generation (or upstream) activities were transferred to three generating companies - 'PowerGen', 'National Power', and 'Nuclear Electric' (later 'British Energy', eventually 'EDF Energy'); and its transmission (or downstream) activities to - the 'National Grid Company'.

The shares in National Grid were distributed to the regional electricity companies prior to their own privatisation in 1990. PowerGen and National Power were privatised in 1991, with 60% stakes in each company sold to investors. The remaining 40% in both companies were held by the UK government. The privatisation process was initially delayed as it was concluded that the 'earlier decided nuclear power plant assets in National Power' would not be included in the private company - 'National Power'. A new company was formed, Nuclear Electric, which would eventually own and operate the nuclear power assets; and the nuclear power stations were held in public ownership for a number of years.

In 1995, the UK government sold its 40% stakes in both PowerGen and National Power. The same year, the assets of Nuclear Electric and Scottish Nuclear were combined as well as split. The combination process merged operations of UK's eight most advanced nuclear plants - seven Advanced Gas Cooled Reactor (AGR) and one Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR) - into a new private company founded in 1996, 'British Energy' (now 'EDF Energy'). The splitting process created a separate company in 1996 called 'Magnox Electric' - which would hold a proportion of the old CEGB's nuclear stations, its older Magnox reactors. The assets of Magnox Electric were later combined with BNFL.

Although electricity privatisation began in 1990, the CEGB continued to exist until the Central Electricity Generating Board (Dissolution) Order 2001, a statutory instrument, came into force on 9 November 2001.

Powergen is now E.ON UK, owned by the German utility company E.ON. National Power split into a UK business, Innogy - now known as 'RWE npower' owned by the German utility company RWE; and an international business, 'International Power' - now fully owned by the French company GDF Suez.