Cowes Power Station

{{Short description|Power station on the Isle of Wight}}

{{see also|Kingston Power Station (disambiguation)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox power station

| name = Cowes Power Station

| image = Kingston Power Station - geograph.org.uk - 18016.jpg

| image_caption = Cowes power station

| coordinates = {{coord|50.7459|-1.2864|region:GB_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}

| country = England

| location = East Cowes, Isle of Wight

| status =

| construction_began =

| commissioned = July 1982

| cost =

| owner =

| operator = RWE Generation UK

| employees = 3

| th_fuel_primary = light fuel oil

| th_technology = Open cycle gas turbine

| ps_chimneys = 2 (80 m)

| ps_combined_cycle = No

| ps_cogeneration = No

| ps_units_operational = 2 × 70 MW

| ps_units_manu_model = Rolls-Royce Olympus gas turbines; C.A. Parsons & Co generators

| ps_electrical_capacity = 140 MW

| ps_electrical_cap_fac =

| ps_annual_generation =

| extra =

}}

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.{{cite web|title=Cowes Power Station|url=http://www.npowermediacentre.com/imagelibrary/detail.aspx?mediadetailsid=4139|publisher=nPower Media Centre|access-date=28 February 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714203446/http://www.npowermediacentre.com/imagelibrary/detail.aspx?mediadetailsid=4139|archive-date=14 July 2011}} The station is owned and operated by [https://uk-ireland.rwe.com/rwe-generation-uk RWE Generation UK].{{cite web|title=Cowes Power Station|url=http://www.engineering-timelines.com/scripts/engineeringItem.asp?id=974|work=Engineering Timelines|publisher=Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE)|access-date=28 February 2011}}

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 {{convert|762|L|USgal}} of fuel oil per minute when running at maximum output.{{cite web|title=Cowes Power Station|url=http://www.rwe.com/web/cms/en/97574/rwe-npower/about-us/our-businesses/power-generation/cowes/|publisher=RWE Power|access-date=28 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100518173823/http://www.rwe.com/web/cms/en/97574/rwe-npower/about-us/our-businesses/power-generation/cowes/|archive-date=18 May 2010}}

There was a 24 MW coal-fired power station at Cowes that was decommissioned on 15 March 1976.{{Cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/1984/jan/16/coal-fired-power-stations|title=Coal-fired power stations - closure|date=16 January 1984|website=UK Parliament|access-date=10 February 2020}}

In addition to electricity generated on the Isle of Wight, power is transmitted from the mainland through subsea cables.{{Cite book|last=The Electricity Council|title=Electricity Supply in the United Kingdom: a Chronology|publisher=The Electricity Council|year=1987|isbn=085188105X|location=London|pages=60, 87, 106}} 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.