Applemore College students on site at Marchwood Power
Marchwood Power Ltd welcomed students from Applemore College to see how the construction of the £350million gas-fired power station was progressing. Eleven “Year 10” pupils toured the site, one of the largest construction projects in the south of England, and received a presentation from members of the Marchwood Power team on how the gas-fired power station will work when it enters commercial operation in the summer of next year.
The opportunity for the Applemore students to visit the power station arose from discussions between the college and Marchwood Power about the Solar4Schools programme, an innovative government-backed initiative to provide solar photovoltaic panels to schools and colleges at no cost to them. The bill-reducing solar scheme, which Marchwood Power is offering to schools and colleges local to the station, costs approximately £22,000 per school with the cost met through 50% government funding, the rest by the power station.
Richard Holman, Marchwood Power’s General Manager said: “Backing Solar4Schools make sense as it helps the environment and reduces energy bills, and these are both important factors in our own business. We also hope that the Applemore students learnt more about modern electricity generation and that their visit may spark their interest in pursuing careers in engineering and the energy business”.
Notes to Editors:
1. The Solar4Schools scheme will provide electricity direct to the schools and save them each on average £500 per year on their electricity bills. In addition the scheme has an educational purpose as a special display board will be put up in each school showing the electricity generated and an “energy resource pack” will be used in lessons, as part of the national curriculum.
2. Marchwood Power is located on the Marchwood Industrial Park. The £350m power station will enter commercial operation in mid-2009, and at 842MW capacity will generate enough electricity to supply the needs of nearly one million homes – equivalent to the combined energy needs of Southampton, New Forest and Winchester.
3. Marchwood Power Ltd is a joint venture company owned by Scottish and Southern Energy and Ireland’s ESB International (ESBI). Scottish and Southern Energy is one of the largest energy companies in the UK and supplies energy to 8.8 million customers in the UK. ESB is the Irish national electrical company, with ESBI acting as the international arm of the company.
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