Uniper’s Grain gas plant offline after storm damage

Uniper’s 1.4 gigawatt (GW) Grain gas plant in Kent in the south of England is offline after sustaining storm damage last week, the company said on Monday.

A fierce Atlantic storm brought record winds of up to 122 mph (196 kph) to Britain on Friday, killing three people and causing widespread disruption.

“A weather-related incident occurred at Grain power station during storm Eunice,” a Uniper spokeswoman said in an emailed statement.

“We can confirm that there are no casualties and there is no risk to the local community. However, it has caused some damage on site and the power station has been temporarily taken offline as a precaution.”

Local media reports said that a chimney at the plant collapsed in high winds on Friday.

The spokeswoman said that a full inspection of the site will need to be carried out before it can return to service.

At full capacity the plant can power about 1 million homes.