Senior directors from Siemens AG, the global engineering and technology services company, visited Drax Power Station today (Wednesday 26 September) as part of celebrations to mark the end of the £100 million turbine upgrade project which has taken five years to complete.

Dorothy Thompson, Drax chief executive, and production director, Peter Emery welcomed a group led by Willi Meixner, head of Siemens’ Service Fossil operations in Europe, Middle East and Africa, who travelled from Germany, and the managing director of Siemens Energy Sector UK and North West Europe, Matthew Chinn.

They were joined by teams of engineers from Drax and Siemens who have worked on the project, the largest steam turbine modernisation in UK history.

Guests at the celebrations received a commemorative book including a time-lapse film of the last turbine replacement which condenses 55 days’ work into five minutes.

Dorothy Thompson said: “ As the UK’s largest coal-fired power station, we take our responsibility to cut carbon emissions seriously. This year we have reached a significant milestone in our continued efforts to do that and this is due to our excellent collaborative relationship with Siemens in Newcastle and Germany.”

She added: “Our turbines are amongst the most efficient in the world and I’m delighted that representatives from Drax and Siemens that have led and delivered this project are here today to celebrate and share in this achievement.”

Matthew Chinn said: “Siemens is a world leader in environmental technologies and helping our customers achieve their sustainability goals is a major focus of our work. We are delighted to have worked with Drax on this key project, which has achieved such major reductions in carbon emissions and radically increased plant efficiency. It is a project that both teams are deservedly proud of. We look forward to supporting Drax on future projects.”

The turbine upgrade enables Drax to reduce its emissions of carbon dioxide by one million tonnes a year, equivalent to taking 275,000 cars off the road. It has increased the overall efficiency of the power station to almost 40%, which is industry-leading performance in UK coal-fired electricity generation.

For more information, please contact:

Melanie Wedgbury/Rachael Hudson

External Communications

Drax Power 01757 618381

Richard Harrison/Sam Addie

Imagen PR 01943 468778

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Notes to Editors

About Drax

Drax is the owner of Drax Power Station, the largest, cleanest and most efficient coal-fired power station in the UK. The capacity of the power station’s six generators is 4,000MW. At current output levels it meets some 7% of the UK’s electricity needs.

Drax is already delivering significant carbon dioxide emissions reductions through both the turbine upgrade and burning sustainable biomass in place of some of its coal.

Drax has been burning sustainable biomass to generate electricity since 2003. As a result of extensive biomass R&D work and the Government’s decision on support levels for sustainable biomass, the company has confidence in its technical capability to transform Drax Power Station into a predominantly biomass-fuelled generator.

About Siemens in the UK

Siemens was established in the United Kingdom 169 years ago and now employs 12,972 people in the UK. Last year’s revenues were £4.4 billion* . As a leading global engineering and technology services company, Siemens provides innovative solutions to help tackle the world’s major challenges, across the key sectors of energy, industry, infrastructure & cities and healthcare. Siemens has offices and factories throughout the UK, with its headquarters in Frimley, Surrey. The company’s global headquarters is in Munich, Germany. For more information, visit www.siemens.co.uk

* Data includes intercompany revenue. Data may not be comparable with revenue reported in annual or interim reports.