Centrica will commence work this week on a new 50MW gas-fired peaking plant at Peterborough in Cambridgeshire.
The power station secured a contract for delivery in 2020/21 in the most recent four-year-ahead capacity auction in December which will consist of five small reciprocating engines connected to the local distribution network.
A team of 95 people will be employed on site during construction. The plant is expected to take around 15 months to complete and is scheduled to begin operating in the fourth quarter of 2018.
David Theakstone, generation manager at Peterborough power station, said: “Preparation works at the Peterborough plant have been exciting for us. We’re now ready for construction to get underway.
“This fast response plant will help to meet local energy demand, while supporting the changing way electricity is generated.”
The project forms part of a £180 million investment programme by Centrica into new flexible generation.
The company has also secured capacity market contracts for another new peaking plant in Lincolnshire, a 49MW battery storage development in Cumbria and a 370MW combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) project on the site of a mothballed power station in Norfolk.
Centrica recently agreed to sell its Langage and South Humber CCGT plants to EPH – the Czech owner of the Eggborough and Lynemouth power stations.