20MW Flexible Generation Plant

Our latest natural-gas-fuelled flexible generation system has commenced operation.

Completed during the challenging conditions created by the COVID-19 pandemic, Ylem Energy quickly introduced enhanced health and safety procedures in order to keep its team safe whilst enabling this vital system to come online and contribute towards bolstering the UK’s security of supply.

Located at the Trafford industrial area on the outskirts of Manchester city centre, the facility comprises of eight 2.5MWe natural-gas-fuelled generators that can produce up to 20MWe of fast-responding flexible power to help balance the national grid – particularly when the UK’s renewable energy output is low.
This type of flexible generation plant – also known as a peaking – is primarily required due to the majority of renewable technologies having a fluctuating output that is often dependent on the availability of wind and solar energy.

Owned and operated by Ylem Energy, the system can be quickly called upon by the grid to help top up the generation capacity at times of system stress.