Kingsnorth delay dents UK coal-fired power strategy
8 Oct 2009
London - E.ON is delaying its plans to build a new coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth in
The planned coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth is being supported by a number of partners, including: Arup, for project management; EPRI - for international technology dissemination; Fluor - as carbon capture technology supplier; MHI- as carbon capture technology supplier; Penspen - for pipeline transportation; and Tullow Oil - for carbon dioxide storage.
E.ON is still committed to the development of cleaner coal and carbon capture and storage (CCS), insisted a company statement. "We believe these 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."
However, the question mark now over Kingsnorth could have implications for the UK energy strategy, which is based on using a diverse range of resources. This includes a continuing, big role for coal, which currently accounts for 37% (29GW) of the UK's electricity capacity, and generated 31% of the UK's electricity in 2008. That level is, however, set to decline to 21GW as stations close in accordance with EU controls on sulphur and nitrogen emissions that cause acid rain.
The Large Combustion Plants Directive, for instance, could shut many power plants across Europe by 2015, including at least 10 in the UK that generate 35 thermal gigawatts (GWth) of electricity - around 25% of the country's supply.
Under plans announced by Ed Miliband, secretary of state for Energy and Climate Change in April, up to four CCS demonstration facilities are to be built in the UK. This is part of ambitious government plans to require coal-fired power operators to capture all carbon emissions from their plants by around 2025. All new coal-fired power stations, including demonstration plants, will have to capture at least 25% of their carbon emissions on startup.
"In order to ensure that we maintain a diverse energy mix, we need new coal-fired power stations but only if they can be part of a low carbon future," said Miliband.
Alongside the Government's ongoing competition to build a post-combustion CCS demonstrator, up to three further 300-400MW projects including pre-combustion technology will be funded by a new - yet to be developed - levy mechanism. Power generators must prove that any new power station is 'carbon capture ready'. The criteria here include: having sufficient space available to retrofit CCS; a suitable potential offshore area to store carbon dioxide; and a feasible potential transport route from the power station to the storage area.
Existing coal-fired plants will be required to have a full-scale CCS retrofit within five years of the technology being judged technically and commercially proven by an independent panel that will include the Environment Agency.
Demonstration projects are expected to start coming on stream by 2014 under the plan, which also envisages the establishment of CCS clusters in regions such as the Thames, Humberside, Teesside, Firth of Forth and Merseyside. A CCS consultation document for England and Wales will be published this summer, including how to fund a larger demonstration programme and the conditions to be placed on future coal-fired power stations.
However, power generators have since called for further clarity from the UK government on the level of funding support it might receive for adding CCS to their plants - at an estimated cost of £1 billion a time. The company also called for the creation of a level playing field between new, cleaner coal and existing unabated coal in the UK.
E.ON is committed to fitting capture technology to its Kingsnorth plant in Kent in accordance with the Government's proposed conditions, as long as it is properly funded, said Dr Paul Golby, chief executive of E.ON UK. He then proposed that the CO2 from Kingsnorth should be captured and then stored as part of a 'Thames Cluster' supporting the whole of the South East.
The E.ON boss argued that linking a number of fossil-fired power stations and other industrial sites to a single carbon transportation system would effectively 'future proof' the development of CCS by allowing new facilities to connect quickly to a pipeline that would work much like the existing national grid for electricity transmission.
E.ON is reducing 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 its 1.3gW Grain oil-fired power station by the end of 2015 and building two new, more efficient CCS-ready 800mW coal units at Kingsnorth.
Acording to E.ON, it is committed to reducing the carbon intensity of its emissions across Europe by 50% by 2030. This builds on the existing reduction in carbon intensity of 20% since 1990. The company's plans in the UK include a £325-million spend on building the Robin Rigg offshore wind farm in the Solway Firth and £700 million to on build the Humber Gateway offshore wind farm.
Meanwhile, the UK government remains fully behind CCS, as highlighted by its role in brokering an international agreement on the development and deployment of the technology at the recent Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF) in London. The main outcomes of the London CSLF meeting, which included participation of CEOs from industry, were:
- agreement that more than 20 industrial scale CCS demonstrations could be needed by 2020, including in developing countries, with knowledge sharing between projects.
- support for capacity building to enable developing countries to host demonstrations and for rapid CCS deployment once it's proven.
- the strongest signal yet, from developed and developing countries alike, that CCS must be incentivised as part of a global climate deal in Copenhagen this December.
Energy and climate change secretary Ed Miliband, who co-chaired the Forum (CSLF) with Norway, said: "There's agreement that we need countries around the world to finance demonstrations, as we are doing in the UK, we need technology co-operation for know-how and capacity building and a financing agreement at Copenhagen which can drive CCS forwards in developing countries."
Finance was identified as the biggest barrier to seeing more full scale integrated CCS projects in operation. The Global CCS Institute reports there are 64 full scale integrated CCS projects under way in the world and 7 are operational. Ministers also considered a new IEA CCS roadmap that suggests 100 CCS demonstration projects are needed by 2020 to combat climate change, and half of these should be in developing countries.
China agreed to host the next CSLF in 2012. The CSLF is currently comprised of 23 members: 22 countries including China, US, Australia, Canada, South Africa and UK as well as the European Commission. CSLF member countries represent over 3.5 billion people, or approximately 60% of the world's population Interest in CCS is growing. Significantly, China has a ministerial delegation at the today's London CSLF for the first time, Poland was today approved as a new member, and Indonesia attended as observers.
