Ironbridge Today
In 1990 the CEGB was split into different companies for privatisation, and Ironbridge Power Station went through a number of ownership transfers before eventually being owned by Powergen. In 2001 Powergen was taken over by E.ON, an energy company based in Germany.
The station is currently the only major generator of electricity in Shropshire. The plant consumes about 1.2 million tonnes of coal and 20,000 tonnes of oil each year, and generated 2,990 GWh of electricity in 2004.
Environmental group Friends of the Earth claim that as of 2006, the station is the second worst polluting power station in the United Kingdom per megawatt output. Ironbridge has been opted out of the Large Combustion Plants Directive, which means the station will only be allowed to operate for up to 20,000 hours after 1 January 2008, and must close by 31 December 2015. In 2012 Ironbridge underwent modification to allow one generating unit to run on 100% biomass (wooden pellets). The modification was undertaken to allow co-combustion with up to 20% coal for improved efficiency.
Read more about this topic: Ironbridge Power Stations
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