WORK could begin on the £500m expansion of Spalding power station next January.
But InterGen, which is behind the plans, has cautioned that the future of the plan is subject to market conditions as talks continue to find a buyer for the extra power the bigger station would produce.
The expansion, which was given the go-ahead in November 2010, will generate an extra 900 megawatts of energy – enough to power a million homes.
As an independent generator, Intergen has to sell its output on the wholesale market or make a deal with a large supplier to buy the energy it produces.
A spokesman for the company said: “Obviously we have to believe there will be a profit in going ahead with the expansion.
“We are still in talks to come up with a deal to sell the extra energy and the plan at the moment is still to commence work in January 2013.
“We still have the arrangement with National Grid and the planning permission in place, so we are still working to that date but discussions on the commercial side are still ongoing.”
As part of that determination to press ahead with the plans, Intergen has now given the British Sugar Sports and Social Club official notice to leave its premises adjacent to the power station in West Marsh Road.
The club has been given until next January to move out and club committee members met representatives of Intergen last week to discuss their departure.
Chairman Tony Harper told the Lincolnshire Free Press the club was “in the middle of negotiations” with Intergen, but refused to comment on what those negotiations centred on.
When completed, the new extension will effectively double the size of the existing natural gas-fired power station in West Marsh Road.
Government backing for the scheme will also mean a £7.14m payment to benefit the local community.
That will include £1.6m for sports and leisure, £100,000 for Pinchbeck Parish Council, £550,00 for air quality monitoring, £500,000 to promote employment, £1.5m to provide waste heat to the Johnson Community Hospital and £1.23m to over inflation.