E.ON, one of the UK's leading power generators, has announced its entry into the government's carbon capture and storage competition, based on its proposed Kingsnorth coal-fired project in Kent which it plans to build CCS-ready in anticipation of the technology's being successfully developed.
To pave the way, E.ON is also proposing that a decision on the Kingsnorth planning application be delayed until later in the year, following completion of the government's consultation into what will be required to make a coal-fired power station CCS-ready.
The new move is supported by E.ON's partners, which include Arup (project management), EPRI (international technology dissemination), Fluor and MHI (carbon capture technology suppliers), Penspen (pipelines), and Tullow Oil, for carbon dioxide storage.
Dr Paul Golby, chief executive of E.ON UK, said: "Decarbonising fossil fuels - and especially coal - is one of the key challenges to be overcome if we are to combat climate change and we aim to be right at the centre of the debate. That is why we have consistently supported the government's competition and that is why we have entered Kingsnorth. By making it clear we will use our proposed Kingsnorth site to develop CCS technology, we are addressing one of the fundamental issues in the whole debate: how can we demonstrate that carbon capture works on a commercial scale unless we first build a station which is CCS-ready and then fit the technology to that station? Moreover, how can we expect other nations such as China or India to adopt carbon capture technology unless we can demonstrate that it can be retrofitted?"
E.ON is planning to reduce its reliance on coal and oil by over 2.6GW between now and 2015. This involves shutting 2.9GW of coal power station capacity split between the existing Kingsnorth and Ironbridge power stations, closing the1.3GW Grain oil-fired power station by the end of 2015 and building two new, more efficient CCS-ready 800MW coal units at Kingsnorth.
However, not everyone is convinced by this view. On 3 April protesters chained themselves together and blockaded both roads into Aberthaw coal fired power station in Wales, the country's biggest source of pollution.
It is the second protest in the UK against coal in three days and the first of many planned by Camp for Action this summer, including a week-long protest in August on the site of the proposed Kingsnorth plants.
"We are at Aberthaw to expose the government's hypocrisy on climate change," one protester said. "Ministers talk about reducing emissions by 60 or 80%, but they continue to support destructive methods of power generation like coal - power stations like this should be phased out and replaced with renewable energy."
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