Centrica wins with plant site buy

BRITISH Gas group Centrica has put down its marker to be in the forefront of the construction of the next generation of major power stations around the country.

The group today acquired an option to build a gas-fired power station at Langage, near Plymouth, in the latest signal that Britain's energy companies fear the country could run into electricity generating capacity shortages by the end of the decade.

The site is one of the few potential power station projects to have been granted planning permission when in late 2000 the then Trade Secretary Stephen Byers ended a moratorium on building gasfired plants. It has a value of £12m before construction costs, and was previously owned by NRG of the US.