Immingham B

A 299MW Open Cycle Gas Turbine plant that incorporates an SSS Clutch allowing it to operate as both a Peaking Power Plant and Synchronous Condenser to support the Energy Transition

VPI’s Immingham combined heat and power (CHP) plant has been providing energy to homes and businesses since 2004. The combined heat and power (CHP) plant delivers 1.2GW of flexible generation capacity to the National Grid and provides energy to two of the UK’s largest refineries.

Construction is underway to build Immingham Energy Park, an adjacent site to VPI Immingham, providing 350MW of rapid-response power during peaks of demand and when renewable energy generation is low. The new development includes a 299MW open cycle gas turbine (OCGT), expected to enter service by summer 2025. The 299 MW OCGT is supplied with a Siemens SGT5-4000F gas turbine and an SSS 360T Encased Clutch.

The rapid-response generators will use established technology that has a track record of highly efficient and reliable operation and will provide dispatchable power quickly to ensure a secure supply during peaks of demand when renewable generation is low.

In support of the UK government’s commitment of achieving fully decarbonised electricity by 2035, the new plant may be converted to run on a proportion of hydrogen, once Industrial-scale production is established.

This new peaking plant will only generate active power for a few hundred hours each year, but the generator can be left spinning and synchronised to the grid as a synchronous condenser, continuously providing reactive power for voltage control and rotating inertia for frequency stabilisation supporting grid stability and strength. This is possible because the SSS Clutch can quickly and reliably decouple the gas turbine from the generator.