Power plant staff get ready to keep our Christmas lights on

As homes across Scotland enjoy the festivities, staff at RWE’s Markinch CHP biomass plant will be working round the clock to keep electric ovens fired up to cook roast dinners.

Around 40 people work at Markinch, a state-of-the-art 63 MW biomass combined heat and power plant, fuelled by 450,000 tonnes of biomass fuel each year.

It can produce enough electricity to meet the needs of 100,000 homes.

Generating electricity is a round the clock operation and the festive period is no exception.

The team at Markinch will be working throughout Christmas, particularly when demand increases.

Markinch site manager Mark Picton said: “The station has a proud history of rising to the challenge.

“And while this year has been extremely busy, the commitment of the team and the flexibility of the plant meant we have been well placed to support the needs of the UK energy market.

“It’s exciting times at Markinch, with the proposed energy centre development that will provide the heat for the local heating network, although we also recognise that a lot of work still remains before final project approval.

“Once again, our team will be working over the festive season. For them Christmas is business as usual.

“Electricity needs to be produced as it’s required 365 days a year so yet again they rise to the challenge.

“It’s thanks to the dedication and hard work of our staff that the Christmas lights keep burning.”

Shift operating technician Phil Murray added: “It is always hard working Christmas Day.

“However, we know that the job we do is important and we are very proud to generate electricity for homes across Scotland.”

The Christmas and New Year shifts team are expecting a busy day with electricity demands high and the need for maximum generation through the day.

RWE operates power plants across the UK and combined could cook nearly 4.4 million turkeys, 15m portions of potatoes and 160m Christmas puddings.