Drax set to complete £100m turbine upgrade
10 May 2012
Drax, UK - Drax Power Station is a month away from completing the largest steam turbine modernisation programme in UK history, the company said 10 May.
The five-year project, which has cost £100 million, is intended to reduce plant emissions of carbon dioxide by one million tonnes a year. The increased overall efficiency of almost 40% will also improve reliability and availability in generation output.
Siemens AG was awarded the £100-million contract to modernise all six units at the power station in 2007. Working with Drax, it has replaced the low pressure and high pressure turbines on all six units at the power station.
The new turbines, manufactured by Siemens Germany, consist of 28 separate turbine rotors weighing over 2,800 tonnes, and over 80,000 individualised turbine blades. Siemens’ project teams were based in Newcastle and in Muelheim an der Ruhr, Germany.
“The completion of this project makes our turbines amongst some of the most efficient in the world,” said Peter Emery, production director at Drax.
“As the UK’s largest coal-fired power station, we take our responsibility to cut carbon emissions seriously and this project marks a significant milestone in our efforts to do that.”
Darren Davidson, head of projects energy service fossil, Siemens Newcastle said: “We have worked with Drax from the start of the tendering phase, helping to bring to light issues relating to the sustainability of the plant, and together during the project execution work to deliver improvements in design through to installation to achieve project objectives … We look forward to continuing to support Drax on future projects.”
