DRAX signs £100m contract

Drax Power has signed a contract with Siemens to replace the low pressure and high pressure turbines on all six units at Drax Power Station, North Yorkshire. The contract marks the start of the largest turbine modernisation project in UK history.

According to Drax, the project represents an investment of £100m and is part of the company’s commitment to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 5%. Replacing the turbines at the power station will improve the overall efficiency of the plant, taking it close to 40%. The efficiency improvements will result in a saving of one million tonnes of CO2 each year.

Siemens’ UK-based engineers will install the new turbines. The bulk of the project work will commence in 2008 and will take four years to complete. Early, limited work will take place during the second of the 2007 planned outages.