UK gas giant Centrica has announced it is to develop the first major new power station in the UK for five years with plans to build an 885 MW gas-fired CCGT plant in Langage, Devon.
The £400 million ($741 million) development, which includes a link to the national gas transmission network and the original acquisition cost, is due to begin commercial operations during winter 2008/2009.
Centrica has awarded Alstom a fixed price engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to develop the combined cycle gas turbine plant.
Alstom will also provide maintenance support to Langage for an initial 12 year period under a long term service agreement.
Sir Roy Gardner, chief executive of Centrica, said: “Faced with a volatile wholesale energy market and a predicted reduction of power generation sources in the UK over the coming years, this major investment signals Centrica’s commitment to secure the future energy needs for our British Gas customers.”
Langage’s location in the south-west, which has little existing power generation capacity, means Centrica will benefit by receiving Transmission Network Use of System (TNUoS) payments. Centrica’s investment has also helped to underpin National Grid’s reinforcement to the gas and power networks in the region.
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