Siemens is to start work at Centrica’s mothballed King’s Lynn power station in Norfolk, where it will install a new gas turbine and carry out major refurbishment .

Centrica confirmed the investment into the 370MW combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) in December last year, saying it was part of a £180 million investment programme into new flexible power plants.

The agreement with Siemens includes  installation and long-term servicing of a gas turbine, the servicing of a generator and a steam turbine, as well as the modernisation of the existing instrumentation and control systems.

The scope of supply encompasses the replacement of the existing V94.3 gas turbine with a new SGT5-4000F gas turbine. In addition, the existing generator and steam turbine will be refurbished at the Siemens site in Newcastle. Centrica will refurbish the heat recovery steam generator and parts of the balance of plant.

Siemens built the existing plant  in 1997 but was put into long-term preservation in March 2012 when the site became uneconomic to run.  King’s Lynn was the only large new-build CCGT that was succesful in December’s Capacity Market auction.