We are keen to hear the views of our local communities. We recognise that good communication is a two-way process and we welcome your feedback and comments. While we will do our best to always use plain English, talking about our business sometimes involves specific terminology, and you will find a glossary of any terms used at the end of each monthly report.
Safety
We measure our safety performance against top tier indicators, including nuclear reportable events, environmental events, and staff and contract partner recordable injuries.
During the period of the report there have been:
No injuries to employees
No nuclear reportable incidents
No environmental incidents
Station output
On 27 August 2018, Dungeness B shut down Reactor 22 for its planned statutory outage. On 23 September 2018 Reactor 21 was also shut down for the planned double reactor outage.
This has been one of the station’s busiest periods of maintenance for many years, with employees and specialist contractors carrying out a huge amount of technical tasks. The work has included a significant programme of main steam pipework inspections and defect removal. This has run in parallel to a programme of enhanced inspection and remediation of back-up systems susceptible to the effects of environmental corrosion.
Over the past 16 months we have spent over £64m on our programmes and throughout this process we have worked closely with the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR).
All of the work that is happening on the station must be underpinned by a comprehensive safety case that demonstrates the station’s ability to produce safe, reliable generation. A safety case analyses all possible scenarios, and demonstrates that all defects have been removed. Our reactors will only be returned to service when we are satisfied that it is safe to do so. This work is now nearing completion and our latest forecasting gives us return to service dates of 20 and 31 January 2020.
The station will continue to produce low-carbon electricity safely and reliably for many years to come – and with this in mind engineers are working through a very full and thorough service, which will stand us in good stead for the future.
Station News and the Community
Visitor Centre
Our Visitor Centre continues to thrive. During November we welcomed more than 300 people on tours and as drop-ins to our exhibition area. The Visitor Centre already has more than 2400 people booked on future tours. We continue to receive positive reviews of our visitor centre.
Local community meetings
EDF Energy and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority hold regular joint meetings with local people, media, council, emergency services representatives and local politicians to maintain regular communications about the site. This meeting is independently chaired and members of the general public are welcome.
In 2020 site stakeholder meetings will take place on January 30 (AGM), May 21 and October 15, all in the Dungeness B Visitor Centre Lecture Theatre.
For more information contact Tracey Finn, Magnox Ltd, on 01797 343510
Company News
Matt Allen (left), co-founder and CEO of Pivot Power with Matthieu Hue, CEO of EDF Renewables UK
EDF Group has acquired a British start up called Pivot Power, specialising in battery storage and infrastructure for electric vehicle (EV) charging. This will allow EDF, already the largest low carbon electricity producer in the UK, to become a leader in battery storage.
Now a wholly owned subsidiary of EDF Renewables, Pivot Power has an extensive portfolio of projects across more than 40 locations throughout the country. There are plans to install batteries connected directly to the high-voltage transmission system – with a total capacity of up to 2 GW. The first two storage projects at Kemsley (Kent) and Cowley (Oxford) have land, planning and grid connection agreements in place and are expected to be commissioned in 2020. As part of its projects, Pivot Power will develop a private wire infrastructure to enable, among other opportunities, the development of mass rapid charging points across the UK.
Each of Pivot Power’s projects has the potential to host a battery capable of exporting 50 MW of power and to provide support for hundreds of rapid EV chargers, potentially suitable for large retail sites, logistics centres, bus depots and park and rides.
Battery storage and EV rapid charging infrastructure are two significant enablers for the UK’s goals to reach net zero by 2050. Battery storage integration in the electricity transmission grid will also provide flexible capacity which will enhance the reliability of the network and boost the integration of renewable electricity. Providing the nationwide connections to power rapid charging stations supports the uptake of electric vehicles instead of the internal combustion engine.
As part of the Electricity Storage Plan, this acquisition contributes to EDF’s target of being the leader in Europe with 10 GW of additional storage by 2035. The acquisition is also in line with the EDF Electric Mobility Plan, to become the leading electric mobility company by 2022 in the UK, France, Italy and Belgium. Beyond this 2022 date, the Group’s goal is to provide power for 600,000 electric vehicles and providing 75,000 charging points.
Simone Rossi, EDF Energy CEO said: “Battery storage and electric vehicles are two key technologies which will help lower carbon emissions, alongside generation from renewables and nuclear. The acquisition of Pivot Power shows EDF is investing in a wide range of projects to deliver the huge shift to low carbon energy the UK will need to reach net zero by 2050.”
For more information
Dungeness B Power Station, Romney Marsh, Kent TN29 9PX
Matthew Pardo
External Communications Manager, South East
24-hour press line: 01452 65 2233
matthew.pardo@edf-energy.com
Alison Prentice
Visitor Centre Co-ordinator
EDF Energy, Generation
T: 01797 343728
alison.prentice@edf-energy.com
Visitor Centre Bookings:
dungenessbtours@edf-energy.com
Rebecca Cavanagh
Communications Officer
EDF Energy, Generation
T: 01797 343 629
rebecca.cavanagh@edf-energy.com
