02 August 2010 15:02
Sand Martins make ash home at Ratcliffe

Careful management and a vibrant biodiversity action plan mean that E.ON's Ratcliffe on Soar Power Station in Nottinghamshire offers a number of animals much needed habitat throughout the year.

This summer has been no different with dozens of Sand Martins making the mammoth journey from Africa to nest amongst the coal ash piles.

With their traditional nesting sites in river banks and cliffs significantly reducing in number, the Sand Martins now make their nests at the power station by digging into the vertical ash faces to form a tunnel that can be between 35cm to 1m long.

With the Sand Martins being regular visitors, the team at Ratcliffe help the birds by creating a distinct vertical face which helps to make it easier for the birds to form their nests. They also ensure no work is carried out whilst the birds are in residence to ensure they can raise their young in peace.

Gary Ulliot, Plant Manager of E.ON's Ratcliffe on Soar Power Station, said: "The team do a fantastic job, not just to help prepare for the Sand Martins, but by ensuring what is essentially an industrial site also provides a habitat for a huge range of wildlife and plants.

"Many people are surprised to hear the variety of creatures that make their home at the power station but it's something we've worked really hard at to support. The plans we have in place make sure we can provide the highest quality habitat and the team's efforts have been rewarded with an amazing number of plants and animals taking full advantage."

Ends

Notes to editors:

• E.ON is one of the UK's leading power and gas companies - generating and distributing electricity, and retailing power and gas - and is part of the E.ON group, one of the world's largest investor-owned power and gas companies. We employ around 16,000 people in the UK and more than 88,000 worldwide;
• E.ON's retail business is a leading energy supplier in the UK with around 5.3 million electricity and gas customers, covering domestic, SME and industrial. E.ON also offers central heating and boiler care;
• The generation business produces enough electricity to cater for the needs of around eight million homes from a portfolio of world-class gas-, coal- and oil-fired power stations;
• We're one of the leading green generators in the UK, with 20 wind farms located from Cambridgeshire to Kintyre. We own and operate one of the UK's largest dedicated biomass power stations at Lockerbie. Combined, our renewable portfolio generates enough green energy to power the homes in a city the size of Manchester;
• We recently launched our first wave power generator, which is the first in UK waters and which is capable of generating 750kW of renewable energy;
• Our target is to cut the carbon released by each kW of electricity we generate by 10% between 2005-2012, having already reduced it by 20% since 1990;
• We have installed over 630,000 cavity wall and loft installation measures since 2005, as well as energy efficient boilers and smart meters to help customers manage their energy more efficiently;

For more information and electronic images of the Sand Martins in flight contact:

Scott Somerville on 02476 183 438