Peterhead Power Station

Peterhead power station is a multi unit station owned and operated by SSE plc near Boddam

Peterhead power station is a multi unit station owned and operated by SSE plc near Boddam and the A90, just south of Peterhead, in Aberdeenshire in the north east of Scotland.

History Oil-fired power station. The Peterhead power station was originally planned as a 1320 MWe oil-fired power station consisting of two 676 MWe generating units.

Construction began in May 1973, with one unit opening in 1980, and the other in 1982. The original owner was the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board.

The proximity of the station to St Fergus gas terminal meant, however, that the boilers were converted to burn gas as well as oil.

When it opened, it burnt waste gas from the Brent oilfield, prior to this gas being refined at the Mossmorran refinery near Cowdenbeath, and the price of oil was uneconomic to use. By 1984, the price of oil made it economic to burn.

Gas turbines In the early 1990s the owners entered into a contract with BP to burn sour gas from the Miller Field.

In order to satisfy the terms of this contract two further units were built with a primary function to burn Miller gas when the two main units were unavailable.

Peterhead CCS Power Station is planned to be a new 900MW gas-fired power station fitted with carbon capture technology to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from its emissions.

By capturing up to 1.5 million tonnes (MT) of CO2 each year, the new station alone would achieve 15% of the UK Government’s target to capture 10MT of CO2 annually by 2030.