Whitegate power station is a 445 MW
combined cycle gas turbine
A combined cycle power plant is an assembly of heat engines that work in tandem from the same source of heat, converting it into mechanical energy. On land, when used to make electricity the most common type is called a combined cycle gas turb ...
(CCGT) electricity generating station near
Whitegate, County Cork
Whitegate () is a small village in East Cork on the eastern shore of Cork Harbour in County Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It lies within the townlands of Ballincarroonig and Corkbeg. Whitegate is within the Cork East (Dáil constituency), ...
in Ireland. It was commissioned in 2010 and can supply up to ten percent of the electricity demand in Ireland.
History
In 2005 the then ESB Eirgrid identified that additional electricity generating capacity would be required by 2010. In response
Bord Gáis Éireann (now Bord Gáis Energy), a commercial state body, proposed to build a new power station in County Cork. A site was selected (51°49’07”N 08°15’17”W) adjacent to
Whitegate refinery
The Whitegate refinery, near Whitegate, County Cork, is Ireland's only oil refinery. It has a capacity of 75,000 Barrel (unit), barrels of oil per day (bpd), sufficient to provide 40 percent of Ireland's fuel requirements. It was commissioned in ...
, this provided ready access to light distillate from the refinery for use as fuel. It was also close to the natural gas grid and to the electricity grid at the 110 kV high voltage Whitegate substation. Bord Gáis contracted
General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...
Operations and Maintenance (GE O&M) to design, operate and maintain the power station. Construction started in March 2008. The investment in the station was €400 million.
Whitegate power station
Whitegate power station is a 445 MW combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) station. The station comprises two 280 MW General Electric GE Frame 9FB
gas turbine
A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas generator or core) and are, in the directi ...
s. The gas turbines can be fired with natural gas or light distillate fuel. The turbines drive
alternator
An alternator is an electrical generator that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy in the form of alternating current. For reasons of cost and simplicity, most alternators use a rotating magnetic field with a stationary armature.Go ...
s. The turbine exhaust generates steam in the heat recovery steam generator (HRSG), the steam is used to drive a 150 MW GE A15
steam turbine
A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...
and an alternator. Steam is condensed in an air cooler (fin-fan cooler).
Additional firing is available in the inlet duct of the HRSG, using refinery off gas or natural gas The
thermal efficiency
In thermodynamics, the thermal efficiency (\eta_) is a dimensionless performance measure of a device that uses thermal energy, such as an internal combustion engine, steam turbine, steam engine, boiler, furnace, refrigerator, ACs etc.
For a he ...
of the station is 58.5%, making it the most efficient station in Ireland.
The station was commissioned on 8 November 2009.
Electricity output from the station is transformed up to 220 kV. This is fed into the 220 kV line between Aghada power station and Raffeen substation.
Operations
It was envisaged that the station would principally run on light distillate fuel oil, however in its initial operating years natural gas was used extensively.
On 2 December 2020 Whitegate power station experienced a forced shutdown. Bord Gáis Energy said that the power station was expected to be offline until 31 December 2021.
See also
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Energy in Ireland
Ireland is a net energy importer. Ireland's import dependency decreased to 85% in 2014 (from 89% in 2013).
The cost of all energy imports to Ireland was approximately €5.7 billion, down from €6.5 billion (revised) in 2013 due mainly to f ...
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Electricity sector in Ireland
The electricity sectors of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland are integrated and supply 2.5 million customers from a combination of coal, peat, natural gas, wind and hydropower. In 2018 natural gas produced 51.8%, while wind turbines gene ...
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List of power stations in the Republic of Ireland
The following page lists all of the power stations operating in the Republic of Ireland.
Power plants
The table below gives a detailed overview of the fossil-fuel based power plants operating in Ireland in 2017. The data is publicly available ...
References
{{Electricity generation in Ireland
Buildings and structures in County Cork
Natural gas-fired power stations in the Republic of Ireland