Situated near the Wilton chemical complex, the station had combined cycle gas turbines (CCGTs) and open cycle gas turbines (OCGTs), however in 2011 the operation of the CCGT part of the station was suspended, and in 2013 the owners announced its closure and plans to demolish it.

The power station was constructed on a 23-acre (93,000 m2) site at the Wilton chemical complex near Middlesbrough in north east England.

[1] The main contracted construction work was undertaken by Westinghouse and Wimpey, employing a largely local workforce of 3,000.

[4] During maintenance closure in August 2001, an explosion in one of the power station's transformers killed three workers and injured another man.

[5] On 1 April 2011, GDF surrendered 1,830 MW of transmission entry capacity (TEC) of the station and ceased operations of the CCGT element of the plant leaving the Open Cycle gas turbine as the only available machine, leaving the station with an operating capacity of 45 MW.

MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland Tom Blenkinsop also criticised the move, calling on Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Chris Huhne to "see to it that the [owners] ... are not allowed to pull the plug on this plant at this time."

[10] In 2018, the local authority was told it had to pay £2.6m to GDF Suez due to a backdated re-evaluation of business rates for the site.

[2] As well as generating electricity, the station also produced heat in the form of 800 tonnes (880 tons) of process steam per hour for the adjacent Wilton chemical complex, and 2,000 tonnes (2,200 tons) of gas liquids per day, in the form of propane, butane and hydrocarbons.