WORK on two major power station projects could bring hundreds of jobs to the shores of Southampton Water over the next four years.

Marchwood Power has unveiled more of its plans for a new £350 million gas-fired power plant on the site of the old Marchwood Power Station and work could start by the end of next year, with completion likely to be around July 2006.

The preliminary work has already started on a £35 million combined heat and power station which will provide energy for at least one and possibly two big factories on the edge of the Fawley petro-chemical complex.

A meeting at Fawley heard that some of the consents have already been obtained for Marchwood Power's 800-megawatt power station which will feed electricity straight into the national grid.

Engineer Peter Wilcox said final work on the design would get under way once permission was received from the Department for Trade and Industry.

A contractor who has not yet been named has been appointed and Mr Wilcox said: "There will be between 400 and 500 construction jobs and the main contractor will be recruiting locally where possible."

When construction starts, the biggest components will be brought in by sea in order to avoid putting extra pressure on local roads.

There were recent suggestions that the project was in some doubt because of financial problems allegedly facing parent company Aquila Energy, but those claims were swiftly rejected.

Meanwhile, BP Energy is developing a £35 million 50-megawatt station at the former Enichem UK synthetic rubber factory - its name has been changed to Polimeri Europa UK - on the northern tip of the Fawley petro-chemical complex.

BP's Stephen Berrill explained that the plant, also gas-fired, would provide energy for the rubber factory and possibly for a neighbouring plant as well as pushing between 25 and 40 megawatts of power into the National Grid.