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Smart energy developer and operator UK Power Reserve (UKPR) has more than doubled the number of flexible power plants it operates, which represent 185MW of capacity, since 2011.
The firm now has ambitions to expand its portfolio to more than 500MW by 2018, with a further pipeline of projects expected to increase its capacity to 1GW by 2020.
UKPR chief executive Tim Emrich said the group’s rapid growth demonstrates its “commitment to being smart in a market place which has been dominated by the big six”.
“UKPR thrives on challenge and has been successful without Government subsidies, which has been the foundation of investment and growth for the majority of the energy industry over the past decade,” he added.
The firm’s power stations are fuelled by either natural gas or fuel oil, both of which can be rapidly dispatched and is used for base-load and peaking generation when there are security of supply issues or system volatility. This, it said, plays a “crucial role” in keeping the lights on by “providing vital energy across the UK when it is needed most”.
“It is becoming more of a challenge to do so,” Emrich said. “Particularly when the risk of blackouts this winter has increased compared with a year ago. Now we have successfully delivered the first phase of our expansion, we are ready, willing and more than able to take this challenge on.”
UKPR was founded by energy experts and investors in 2010 and now employs 73 people. It won a large amount of capacity in the UK’s first capacity market auction in December 2014, allowing it to add a further 19 sites to its existing 16 sites based across the UK.
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