Conventional Generation
The region offers:
- A strong infrastructure of 13 conventional generation power stations
- An established skilled workforce
- Easy access to offshore reserves within the North Sea
Conventional generation describes the burning of fossil fuels such as coal or natural gas to produce electricity.
In the East of England, Tilbury Power Station is the only coal-burning power plant and has the capacity to generate 1,131MW of electricity.
There are twelve natural gas plants in the region which generate a combined 2,812MW of electricity.
In 2006, about 86% of the world energy production came from burning fossil fuels; these reserves are non-renewable and will eventually be exhausted.
Fossil fuel power stations generally rely on rotating machinery to convert the heat energy of combustion into mechanical energy. For these power stations to operate, the basic fuels need to be delivered. In general, coal is delivered by road, rail, ship or coal slurry pipeline. Plants fuelled by natural gas are usually built near transport pipelines or have dedicated gas pipelines extended to them.
Advantages:
- Burning coal is currently one of the cheapest ways to generate power
- Power stations can be built anywhere with good transport links or access to gas pipelines and a plentiful supply of cooling water
- The world has many coal reserves
- Gas is light and easy to transport by pipeline
Disadvantages
- Burning fossil fuels produces carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, and other harmful gas
- Fossil fuels are not renewable
- Coal-fired power stations need huge amounts of fuel
- The UK is importing most of its gas
