The Didcot B Power Station is back online following a fire that occurred in late October. It was eight days before the power station was in action again and repair work is still continuing; until the affected module is repaired fully the tower will only work at 50% of its usual capacity.
The fire began on a Sunday evening and affected one of the cooling modules in the Didcot B Power Station; the tower stands alongside the Didcot A tower, which was decommissioned in 2012.
When the fire broke out, an emergency team put in place a co-ordinated plan and worked alongside local emergency services to extinguish the flames as soon as possible. The Fire Brigade stayed on site until the next morning and then control of the cooling tower was handed back to the team at Npower. The fire caused millions of pounds worth of damage, and 25 fire engines were called to the scene.
It is still not known what caused the fire; Npower have stated that an investigation is being held into the cause. While the investigation is underway, the cooling tower, which is one of two at the Didcot B plant, will remain out of use. Npower are unable to say how long the module will be out of action for.
In a statement, Npower said that the power station was shut down as soon as the fire began to take hold and that there was no injuries caused to staff at the plant; the public were not put at risk as a result of the fire.
Roger Miesen, Head of Hard Coal and Gas, on the RWE Generation board, said:
‘It’s good news that Module 5 is back online so quickly. It will be available to generate power this winter and essential repairs will be in the region of single digit million pounds. Didcot B, as part of RWE Generation’s wider fleet, has an important part to play in contributing to the UK’s security of supply.
‘Our thanks go out for the fantastic response and dedication of the emergency services who worked alongside RWE teams to bring the fire under control quickly and safely. Huge credit is also due to the RWE site and central engineering teams whose expertise meant that we are able to bring Module 5 back into service after only nine days.’
The gas-fired power station creates enough energy to power 1 million homes, but energy supplies were not affected.