Work is officially underway to build what is claimed will be the most efficient combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plant in the UK.

The £350 million Keadby 2 project – being developed by SSE and technology partner Siemens – will be capable of generating up to 840MW of electricity, with 63% efficiency.

It will sit alongside the energy supplier’s existing gas-fired Keadby Power Station and help provide flexible energy capacity to the grid, with the turbine able to reach full power in 30 minutes.

Wesley Tivnen, Managing Director for Power and Gas at Siemens said: “This station will mean the UK can move away from coal-fired power and still have synchronous generating capacity on the grid to complement intermittent renewable generation. If the UK is to meet decarbonisation targets and keep the lights on, we’ll ned to see a mix of technologies used to power the grid.”

The plant is expected to enter commercial operational in 2022.