The power station opened in 2001 as Shotton CHP Ltd, when owned by TXU Europe.

The plant was near the[2] site of UPM's Shotton paper mill and provided steam, condensate and power to the paper mill and fed surplus electricity into the National Grid.

It was the first time a power station had been commercially running whilst in receivership.

The site was next door to the Deeside Power Station, north of the River Dee.

International Power decided to close the plant in June 2012, as the commissioning of a number of highly efficient gas-fired power stations in the UK, the relatively low efficiency of Shotton CHP and the worst position of gas in UK's merit order over the previous years made the plant uncompetitive.