Cowes Power Station

Cowes power station (or Kingston power station) is a 140MW Open Cycle Gas Turbine station powered by two 70MW units. The station is the Isle of Wight's only conventional power generation source other than power from the mainland. The station was built in 1982 at a cost of £30 million.[1] The station is owned and operated by RWE Generation UK.[2]

Cowes Power Station
Cowes power station
Country	England
Location	East Cowes, Isle of Wight
Coordinates	50.7459°N 1.2864°W / 50.7459; -1.2864
Commission date	July 1982
Operator(s)	RWE Generation UK
Employees	3
Thermal power station
Primary fuel	Light fuel oil
Turbine technology	Open cycle gas turbine
Chimneys	2 (80 m)
Combined cycle?	No
Cogeneration?	No
Power generation
Units operational	2 × 70 MW
Make and model	Rolls-Royce Olympus gas turbines; C.A. Parsons & Co generators
Nameplate capacity	140 MW
External links
Commons	Related media on Commons

Both units run on light fuel oil and operate at either peak time or when the grid requires frequency response. The station is either run locally or by remote from the Hythe Dispatch Desk, located at Hythe Power Station. The gas turbine engines have a total output of 200,000 horsepower and use 762 litres (201 US gal) of fuel oil per minute when running at maximum output.[3]

There was a 24 MW coal-fired power station at Cowes that was decommissioned on 15 March 1976.[4]

In addition to electricity generated on the Isle of Wight, power is transmitted from the mainland through subsea cables.[5] The first connection was in 1947 by a 33 kV cable from Nursling near Southampton to Cowes. A second cable was installed in 1964, this was the first 132 kV oil-filled cable in Britain, and was constructed by AEI. A new 132 kV link was commissioned in July 1972, this was the first major cable contract undertaken by the Southern Electricity Board.[5]