Dong Energy will remotely control Ashford Power’s flexible gas plant from its Denmark HQ after the two stuck a deal.
The aim is to capitalise on power market price spikes and enable the energy supplier help balance its portfolio, with penalties for being out of balance significantly sharpened since market intervention last year.
The Ashford Power project is being developed and managed by Aggregated Micro Power Plc (AMP).
AMP announced in January that it had secured £14m in financing to build 21MW of natural gas reciprocating engines at the Kingsnorth site to capitalise on high power prices at times of peak demand. Dong’s power purchase agreement was key in getting that deal over the line, according to AMP.
The project won a capacity market agreement in 2015 with construction now underway. Commercial operations are expected to start before 1st October 2017, according to the firm.
“We’re very pleased to enter into this agreement with AMP. As a company responsible for balancing the world’s largest wind portfolio, we have a constant focus on the short-term market which makes an asset like Ashford Power a natural fit. Given the highly flexible characteristics of the asset and our market insight, we look forward to realising its full potential,” said Søren Scherfig, Head of Trading & Portfolio Management at Dong Energy.
Chris Wickins, Project Development Director at AMP and Director of Ashford Power, added: “This is a fantastic gas-fired flexible power generation project that helps underpin the UK’s growth in renewables. We’re delighted to partner with Dong Energy, whose power purchase agreement was instrumental in getting the project to financial close.”
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Free report: 2016 DSR market report
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