Immingham CHP (Combined Heat and Power) is sited on the south bank of the River Humber. The plant provides process steam to the Humber Oil Refinery and another nearby refinery. Excess electricity is exported to the National Grid.

Owner ConocoPhillips approved a £210 million CHP extension to increase the plant’s power output. Black & Veatch was commissioned to provide front-end engineering and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services for the Phase II expansion. The expansion added a new 480 megawatt (MW) natural gas combined-cycle unit with 200 tons/hour of steam production. This increased the plant's total electrical output to nearly 1,200 MW.

The work addressed a number of complexities. These included limited space for site expansion due to existing infrastructure, the need to ensure continuous steam output for existing refineries and incorporating sustainable designs that address water scarcity by lowering water demands.

An air-cooled condenser was incorporated to address water scarcity concerns. Although the equipment resulted in a larger site footprint than a water-cooled unit, Black & Veatch’s design addressed challenges created by limited space and water scarcity.

Environmental Benefits

CHP is a fuel-efficient technology that generates electricity and heat simultaneously to maximise energy recovery. Compared to conventional fossil fuel power production, the Immingham CHP also brings benefits to the environment through reduced primary energy usage, as well as atmospheric emissions of carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide through efficient energy conversion, the use of natural gas and other low sulphur content secondary fuels.

CHP technology also forms an important element within the national Energy White Paper for achieving the UK government’s aim to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 60 percent by 2050.

Ownership of the Immingham CHP facility was transferred to Vitol Group in 2013. The plant was renamed VPI Immingham.