WSP Joins Kings Lynn Gas-Fired Project in the U.K.

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Centrica plc (OTC:CPYYY) (Windsor, England) has appointed WSP Global Incorporated (TSX:WSP) (Montreal, Quebec) as the lead engineer for its new gas-fired project at the closed King's Lynn gas-fired power station in Norfolk, England.

The company is constructing a 370-megawatt (MW) combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant at the site of the mothballed plant, which Centrica took offline in 2012. The cost of the build is estimated at about £100 million ($124.7 million), with construction kicking off this summer and commissioning expected in summer 2019. The existing 340-MW plant was shut in March 2012 at a time when gas prices were very high and the European market was flooded with cheap coal imports from the United States, prompting a switch by many power companies to coal-fired plants. Older gas-fired plants were deemed too expensive to run.

The new plant comes as a result of the company's winning 15-year agreements for over 500 MW of new capacity from 2020 in the U.K. government's December auctions for back-up power. Alongside the new King's Lynn plant, Centrica is building two 50-MW gas engine power plants with Wartsila Corporation (OTC:WRTDF) (Helsinki, Finland) at the existing Brigg and Peterborough power stations. It is also working on a 49-MW battery storage facility at Roosecote in Cumbria. For additional information, see February 6, 2017, article - Centrica Building Two 50-Megawatt Gas Engine Plants in U.K..

WSP worked on the original Kings Lynn plant in the 1990s and said that the new plant will create up to 250 jobs during construction. The company will deliver engineering management, programme and design review, and supervise the construction of the new works.

"This appointment is testament to the work carried out by our teams involved in the original construction of the station in the mid-1990s and throughout the development of the King's Lynn Replant project," commented Ryan Broughton, energy engineering manager at WSP / Parsons Brinckerhoff. "Our understanding of the site, project and the client means that we are able to work with Centrica to anticipate risks and realise benefits on what is going to be a complex project requiring our specialist engineering expertise."

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