12 Aug 2019 07:00
Plutus PowerGen Plc / Ticker: PPG / Index: AIM
12 August 2019
RNS Reach
PLUTUS POWERGEN PLC
("Plutus", the "Group" or the "Company")
Vital support provided to UK National Grid in latest power crisis
Plutus PowerGen (AIM: PPG), the AIM listed power company focused on the development and operation of flexible energy generation ('FlexGen') projects in the UK, announces that all six of its 20MW sites were utilised on Friday 9 August 2019 in response to the outages of two power stations on that day. The Company's sites are automatically turned on when the grid frequency drops below a certain level under the Firm Frequency Response Scheme ('FFR'), under which the Company receives payment in return for its availability.
In a public statement, the UK National Grid has said it will "learn the lessons" after nearly one million people across England and Wales lost power on Friday. Subsequent to the power outage, Business Secretary, Andrea Leadsom MP, has requested that the Energy and Emergencies Executive Committee undertake an investigation aimed at assessing whether National Grid's procedures are "fit for purpose".
Additionally, the regulator Ofgem has demanded an "urgent detailed report" into the events and failures that led to the power outage. The impact of Friday's power outage was widespread and the impact included hospitals; for example, a back-up generator at Ipswich Hospital, which was supposed to supply power to outpatient areas, did not work as expected.
Around 300,000 UK Power Networks customers were affected in London and the South-East while Western Power Distribution said around 500,000 people were affected in the Midlands, South-West and Wales; other regions across the UK were also affected.
Interim CEO, James Longley commented, "We are pleased that were able to respond under the FFR scheme whereby our FlexGen projects automatically switched on when the frequency dropped below a certain amount. The situation on Friday demonstrates the vital service that flexible power generators, such as Plutus PowerGen, play in circumstances such as this. Back-up power generation cannot be provided this quickly by conventional generators or necessarily by intermittent power such as wind or solar. With the changing energy mix, it is the national interest to maintain back-up power generation. We welcome the Government's and OFGEM's investigation into what happened and how the crisis was addressed by operators such as us."
**ENDS**
For further information, please visit www.plutuspowergen.com, or contact:
Plutus PowerGen Plc | +44 (0) 20 8720 6562 |
Charles Tatnall, Executive Chairman | |
Allenby Capital Limited (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker) | +44 (0)20 3328 5656 |
Nick Athanas James Hornigold | |
Turner Pope Investments (TPI) Limited (Joint Broker) | +44 (0)20 3621 4120 |
Andy Thacker | |
St Brides Partners Limited (Financial PR) | +44 (0)20 7236 1177 |
Isabel de Salis |
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