RWE npower says it is about to complete new facilities at a UK power station for the testing of carbon capture technologies, and has called on the country’s government to address regulatory issues surrounding carbon capture and storage (CCS).
The new facilities at Didcot power station near Oxford will allow RWE npower to evaluate the capture of carbon dioxide from flue gases as well by oxyfuel firing. They form a major part of the company’s plans to develop and commercialise CCS technology, which the European Commission says will be vital to reducing carbon emissions from the power and industrial sectors.
However, the company says that greater certainty is needed for companies that are investing in the development of CCS, and has called on the government to implement a carbon transport and storage strategy. Regulatory and policy pitfalls will add unnecessary delays to CCS development, says RWE.
“The aim here should be to help accelerate development of a functioning CCS technology that can be integrated into those coal power stations that the country will continue to need, not to add further areas of delay or regulatory uncertainty regarding the case for new power stations in general,” said RWE npower CEO Andrew Duff.
“The country needs to develop at least 25 GW of new generation facilities by 2020 and draw on a range of sources like renewables, gas and combined heat and power. Coal will play a reducing, but vital, part to keep supplies secure, reliable and affordable.”
RWE is planning to start work in 2009 on work at Aberthaw power station in South Wales, where it intends to build a pilot CCS plant. It is also planning to construct a 450 MW CCS demonstration project using integrated gasification combined cycle technology at Heurth, Germany.
In July RWE failed to pre-qualify as a bidder in the UK government’s CCS demonstration competition, the winner of which will be granted funding for the construction of a commercial-scale CCS demonstration project.
The UK government has just closed a consultation on the carbon-capture readiness of power plants.
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