A £2.2 billion investment behind a third power station at SSE Thermal’s North Lincolnshire cluster will create 250 jobs and contribute £28 million to the local economy for every year of its anticipated 25-year lifecycle, new research has found.

Keadby Three Carbon Capture Power Station is going through the planning process now, with a decision due on the nationally significant project from the Secretary of State in December.

It is also in the cluster sequencing competition too, a significant fund to kickstart the decarbonising of heavy industry and power generation as part of the government-backed forerunner, the East Coast Cluster.

Read more: New SSE Thermal managing director given Humber focus as £12.5b low carbon brief underlined

Results are anticipated soon, with the project tapping into the dual pipeline plan for hydrogen distribution and carbon capture, Zero Carbon Humber.

Mark Birley, project director, said: “Keadby has a long legacy of power generation; from coal to the original dash for gas, into renewables using wind turbines and to the latest iteration and back to gas with construction of the most efficient CCGT in the UK (Keadby Two), potentially in Europe, and one that will hopefully get a world record.

“Keadby Three builds on that legacy.”

Coal generation began on site in the Fifties with a 360 MW plant, switching to gas and more than doubling output to 735MW. Keadby Two, currently undergoing commissioning, will add 840MW of demand-led power.



The report into Keadby Three's economic impact is released at Doubletree by Hilton Forest Pines Spa and Golf Resort. Mark Birley, SSE Thermal's project director for Keadby Two and Keadby Three, second right, is joined by SSE Thermal stakeholder managers Nina Donald, left, and Jade Fernandez, right, Marketing Humber managing director Diana Taylor, second left, and Engineering UTC Northern Lincolnshire students Cole Joinson and Wade Longmore.
The report into Keadby Three’s economic impact is released at Doubletree by Hilton Forest Pines Spa and Golf Resort. Mark Birley, SSE Thermal’s project director for Keadby Two and Keadby Three, second right, is joined by SSE Thermal stakeholder managers Nina Donald, left, and Jade Fernandez, right, Marketing Humber managing director Diana Taylor, second left, and Engineering UTC Northern Lincolnshire students Cole Joinson and Wade Longmore.



Engineering UTC Northern Lincolnshire students Cole Joinson, left, and Wade Longmore (both 14) speak with Mark Birley, SSE Thermal's project director for Keadby Two and Keadby Three, at the release of Keadby Three's economic impact report.
Engineering UTC Northern Lincolnshire students Cole Joinson, left, and Wade Longmore (both 14) speak with Mark Birley, SSE Thermal’s project director for Keadby Two and Keadby Three, at the release of Keadby Three’s economic impact report.

Keadby Three, likely to be slightly lower, will use the same pioneering technology, with the addition of post-combustion carbon capture, feeding into the proposed pipeline, transporting emissions to be stored under the North Sea.

“It will contribute much more than just keeping the lights on and reducing the carbon footprint,” Mr Birley said. “It will provide significant socio-economic investment through jobs, skills and development in construction through to 2027 and then the expected operating life of 25 years.”

Regionally the figures grow to £34 million and 320 jobs, with a £53 million national contribution and 560 roles.

Launching the report alongside partner Equinor at Doubletree by Hilton Forest Pines Spa and Golf Resort, the event heard how Actavo and CGB Humbertherm were two local contractors behind the latest build, providing access and insulation.

Diana Taylor, managing director of Marketing Humber, told how the plans’ impact is “far more further reaching than just leading work to Net Zero”. She said: “They support growth of supply chains, build economic growth and provide inspiration for the next generation of talent and for those looking to upskill.”

Recent participants in the Waterline schools challenge were there to take in the event, representing the generation coming through to see the transformation.

SSE and Equinor are also working up plans for a fourth power station, Keadby Hydrogen in what would be a fourth energy source for the site.

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