THE new Czech owner of the Kilroot and Ballylumford power stations reversed significant losses recorded at both power stations during 2019, new accounts show.
Energeticky a Prumyslovy Holding’s UK subsidiary EP UK Investments (EPUKI), paid US firm AES £163m for a series of its assets in 2019, including both Northern Ireland power stations.
The gas-fired Ballylumford power station in Larne had reported a pre-tax loss of £3.6 million in 2019. The latest set of account for the year ending December 31 2020 shows a pre-tax loss of just £11,000, which rose to £3.6m profit after other income was factored in.
EPUKI said while falling gas prices in 2020 hit the station’s revenues, that was offset by the long term power purchase agreement (PPA), which accounts for 592MW of Ballylumford’s 708 output.
In recent months the wholesale gas market across Europe has witnessed record increases.
Carrickfergus-based Kilroot, which is fired by both coal and oil, recorded a pre-tax loss of £1.1m in 2019, largely due a Signiant spent on maintenance works at the site.
That recovered to a pre-tax profit of £12.8m in 2020.
EPUKI said: “Revenue and gross margin increased in the year due to increased generation resulting from operational constraints within the Northern Ireland market, partially offset by reduced capacity market revenues.”
According to both sets of accounts filed with Companies House, staffing levels have been cut at both facilities. Kilroot’s workforce dropped from 117 in 2019 to 91 last year.
Ballylumford saw a signficant drop in production staff, dropping from 113 to 73 in total.
The UK Government committed to phasing out coal power stations by 2025.
Last year saw EPUKI launch a massive £82m tender to procure new gas-firing units for Kilroot and Ballylumford, in a bid to secure their long-term future.
The group also announced plans for a broader £600m project at Kilroot to develop a new low-carbon energy park, which add solar, battery storage, hydrogen and a multi fuel combined heat and power (CHP) facility.
The group is also proposing a data centre and an education and learning centre on the site,
Along with Kilroot and Ballylumford, EPUKI owns power plants in Plymouth, Lincolnshire and Northumberland. It also owns 80 per cent of the Tynagh powers station in Galway.
