Cottam power stations

Cottam power station
The power station, viewed from the north. July 2006.
Location of Cottam power station in Nottinghamshire
Country	England
Location	Cottam
Coordinates	53°18′14″N 0°46′53″W / 53.304°N 0.7815°W / 53.304; -0.7815Coordinates: 53°18′14″N 0°46′53″W / 53.304°N 0.7815°W / 53.304; -0.7815
Status	Operational
Operator(s)	Central Electricity Generating Board (1969-1990) Powergen (1990-2000) London Energy (2000-present)
Thermal power station
Primary fuel	Coal
Secondary fuel	Oil
Tertiary fuel	Biomass
Power generation
Units operational	4
Make and model	English Electric Co. Ltd.
Nameplate capacity	2,000 MW
grid reference NZ174644

The Cottam power stations are a pair of power stations. The site extends over 620 acres of mainly arable land and is situated at the eastern edge of Nottinghamshire on the west bank of the River Trent at Cottam near Retford. The larger station is coal-fired, was commissioned in 1969 by the Central Electricity Generating Board and has a generating capacity of 2,000 megawatts (MW). It is now owned by EDF Energy. The smaller station is Cottam Development Centre, a combined cycle gas turbine plant commissioned in 1999, with a generating capacity of 400 MW. This plant is owned by E.ON UK.

The site is one of a number of power stations located along the Trent valley. The West Burton power stations are 3.5 miles (5.6 km) downstream and Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station is 52 miles (84 km) upstream. The decommissioned High Marnham Power Station was 6 miles (9.7 km) upstream. The railway to the site reopened in 1967. Under the Central Electricity Generating Board in 1981/82 Cottam power station was awarded the Christopher Hinton trophy in recognition of good housekeeping. After electricity privatisation in 1990, ownership moved to Powergen. In October 2000, the plant was sold to London Energy, who are part of EDF Energy, for £398 million.