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Three of Drax Power Station's intermediate pressure (IP) turbines are to be upgraded under a new contract with Siemens Energy Service Fossil in Newcastle.
The new modules will be supplied by Siemens and installed by a joint Drax-Siemens team. The modules will contribute to Drax's efficiency improvement programme.
The new contract was awarded following the successful completion of the £100 million turbine upgrade project which, over a period of five years, saw the replacement of the high pressure and low pressure turbine modules of all six generating units at Drax Power Station. The turbine modernisation project has increased the overall efficiency of the power station to almost 40% and reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by one million tonnes per year.
Commenting on the new order, Peter Emery, production director at Drax said: "We have taken the decision to upgrade the intermediate pressure turbines of the three generating units that are to be converted to burn sustainable biomass in place of coal. This will optimise the efficiency of those units by helping to offset any loss in efficiency experienced as a result of the change in fuel diet.
"The project builds on the success of the major turbine upgrade programme completed last year and underlines our commitment to delivering leading operational performance in power generation."
The new design means that each intermediate pressure (IP) turbine will be installed as a module, which will support the ease of installation and reduce the duration of the outage required to install it.
This new project will be delivered by joint teams from Siemens in the UK and Germany. Siemens steam turbine engineering team in Newcastle is undertaking the design and drafting elements of the project. The IP modules will be manufactured at Siemens’ factory in Mülheim an der Ruhr with critical support from Newcastle’s engineering, projects and field service teams. The turbines will be installed at Drax by an integrated team of Drax and Siemens engineers, technicians and craftsmen.
(CD)
