RWE’s Pembroke Power Station recently marked 10 years of safe and successful operations. Staff, past and present, and their families, came together in a number of events to celebrate this milestone and to hear more about the future decarbonisation of the site.
RWE is Wales’ largest energy generator and also the largest renewable generator with 12 sites including onshore and offshore wind, hydro and the most efficient gas plant in the UK - Pembroke. The station plays an essential role in supporting the UK’s energy transition as it can flexibly power up and down in response to availability of renewable power, provides excellent reliability and is key to ensuring security of supply across Wales and the UK. Power has been generated at the site since 1968 and today the station has the ability provide energy to around 4 million households boasts an efficiency of 61%.
Around 250 people attended over three days for site tours, exhibitions and children’s entertainment taking time out of the busy working day to enjoy and afternoon tea together and talk about both the rich industrial history of the site and area and ambitious future projects.
RWE has invested millions of pounds in major outages to improve the plant performance over recent years, maintaining Pembroke’s position as one of the least CO2 intensive CCGT’s in the UK, and is set to further develop options for the decarbonisation of the site.
Richard Little, who until very recently was the power station manager at Pembroke has taken on a new role as Director of the Pembroke Net Zero Centre (PNZC). This initiative launched last year and is RWE’s UK decarbonisation hub, connecting innovative technologies needed for a low carbon future. This includes hydrogen production, carbon capture and storage (CCS) and floating offshore wind. Together these technologies will enable RWE’s goal of being carbon neutral by 2040. In order to coordinate and maximise the opportunities these technologies offer RWE and Wales, and to collaborate with industrial partners and Welsh government, the role of Director has been put in place.
Commenting on the 10th anniversary and his new position Richard Little said, “The Station’s successful 10 years of operations is largely down to the dedication and skill of the team we have at site. The industry has already seen immense change since we began operations, and this station will play a vital role in supporting the energy transition over the coming years. It is vital to deploy decarbonisation technologies to ensure cleaner energy and industry in the coming years, as well as helping to secure skilled jobs for the region. My entire focus will now be to ensure the success of the PNZC in support of the South Wales Industrial Cluster and the UK’s ambition to be carbon neutral by 2050.”
PNZC has three distinctive pillars of development and implementation this includes: green hydrogen production, floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea and the decarbonisation of the Pembroke Power Station itself, including CCS studies and investigations of using hydrogen as a fuel. RWE is siting the Net Zero Centre at Pembroke as it has all elements to the energy and industrial carbon trilemma: offshore wind accessibility, land for development of an electrolyser, grid and power connections and a gas power station at the centre.
The station currently employees around 100 skilled people who live locally, the site is a proud member of the Pembroke business community, regularly participating in local events and supporting local charities.
For more information about the Pembroke Net Zero Centre visit here and to see a celebration video here.