The German utility E.On has put on hold its plans to build a new ‘cleaner coal’ power station at Kingsnorth in the south of the UK. The delay may be three years, says E.On, citing falling electricity demand during the global recession.
The economic downturn, says the company, has "pushed back the need for a new plant in the UK to around 2016 ... as a group, we remain committed to the development of cleaner coal and carbon capture and storage (CCS), which we believe have a key role to play alongside renewables, gas and nuclear, in tackling the global threat of climate change, while ensuring affordability and security of energy supplies".
E.On first applied for permission to build the plant in December 2006, but the site has attracted controversy ever since, mainly owing to the activities of environmental campaigners who argue that a new coal plant would increase carbon emissions and exacerbate climate change. In October 2007 Greenpeace campaigners shut the existing plant down by chaining themselves to the conveyer belt, leading to the arrests of more than 30 activists. Then in August 2008, an estimated 1000 demonstrators attended a camp to protest against plans for the new power station, organised by the Camp for Climate Action.
Despite the insistence of E.On that the decision was driven by the downturn, campaigners have much of the fact that it has come after "thousands of campaigners raised the alarm about this proposal", suggesting that "the plug has been pulled on this dangerous initiative". Many campaigners now believe that it is becoming increasingly unlikely that the plant will ever be built.
E.On wants to replace the existing plant, due to shut in 2015, with two units it says would be 20% cleaner and also ‘carbon capture ready.’ This means not much more than that ground space would be allocated to a future CCS bolt-on when that technology has become viable. But climate campaigners, who doubt the value of such undertakings, who say moreover that coal should not be part of the UK's energy future and want money spent on green technologies, have raised a chorus of voices to proclaim the end of the project.
Andy Atkins, executive director of environmental campaign group Friends of the Earth, said the station would have "seriously undermined the UK's credibility on climate change". He added: "The government must now show real leadership and say no to all new coal plants which aren't fitted with 100% carbon capture and storage from day one."
Greenpeace campaigner Ben Stewart, one of the so-called Kingsnorth Six who climbed a flue stack at the power station in a protest against carbon emissions two years ago, described it as "a really big setback" for E.On and "really good news for the environment". Camp for Climate Action activist Dennis Stevens described E.On's decision as an "amazing victory which shows how ordinary people can take back the power from corporations and government which do not value people and the environment".
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