GE Vernova has completed a major outage and installed two High Efficiency (HE) upgrades at InterGen’s 800 MW Coryton combined cycle power plant near London, delivering performance results that exceeded expectations and strengthening the UK’s flexible power generation capacity.
The HE upgrade introduced advanced improvements across the gas turbine, compressor and combustor systems. As a result, the plant can now generate up to an additional 85 MW of power, significantly surpassing the initial 77 MW estimate. Unit efficiency also improved by 2.46 percent, while maintenance intervals are expected to be extended, helping improve long-term operational reliability.
The modernization is projected to reduce carbon emissions by about 67,500 tons annually by enabling the plant to produce the same amount of electricity using less fuel. This supports the UK’s broader goals to reduce national carbon emissions while maintaining grid stability as renewable energy adoption grows.
The outage project included borescope inspections of two generators and steam turbines, valve inspections, and comprehensive electrical testing. More than 300 specialists from GE Vernova’s global teams worked with InterGen, completing over 122,000 man-hours with zero recordable safety incidents.
GE Vernova highlighted that its GT26 gas turbines can operate on multiple fuel types, including hydrogen and natural gas blends, offering InterGen a pathway to further reduce emissions in the future. The Coryton project adds to the growing deployment of the technology, with eleven GT26 units upgraded with HE technology already operating worldwide in 2025.
Introduced in 2019, the GT26 HE upgrade integrates innovations from GE Vernova’s F-Class and H-Class turbine fleets, along with additive manufacturing, advanced aerodynamics, material science, and combustion technologies to improve output, efficiency, and maintenance performance.
BABURAJAN KIZHAKEDATH
