Eggborough power station wins 12-month reprieve

Operations at Eggborough near Selby were due to cease from 31 March this year with the loss of up to 262 jobs, but the new deal secure up to 235 jobs - 85 per cent of those under threat - for the next 12 months.

Bosses at Eggborough Power Ltd said the development is the result of the signing today of a Supplemental Balancing Reserve (SBR) contract with National Grid.

Under deal covers 775MW of capacity to be delivered by two of Eggborough’s four units to provide extra electricity supply during the winter of 2016/17.

SBR is designed to support National Grid in balancing the system in the event that there is insufficient capacity in the market to meet demand and is only used as a last resort by the operator.

Announcing that Eggborough was likely to close in September, bosses said the fall in power price, driven by the decline in commodity prices, combined with continued high carbon tax, meant Eggborough, was “unable to cover its future operating costs.” The tax would have cost them £250m over three years.

Today’s announcement secures a stay of execution.