Dark days ahead if nobody stands up for industry
13 Oct 2009
Ministers might drop the issue of coal-fired power like a hot potato as short-term political considerations takes priority over long-term planning.
Whatever the validity of E.ON’s explanation for postponing its plans to build a new coal-fired power plant at Kingsnorth - a drop in electricity demand due to the economic downturn - the decision underlines concerns within industry about whether either the current Labour Government or a likely future Conservative one has the political will to maintain the diverse energy mix needed to keep the lights on in the UK.
Earlier this year, energy and climate change secretary Ed Miliband presented the Government¹s energy strategy for the coming decades. This seemed a well judged position paper that balanced the need to maintain the UK’s energy supply with meeting ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Though sketchy on detail, Miliband offered a credible vision of a low carbon economy and a fairly sensible roadmap for how to get there. A key part of this strategy was a continuing role for coal-fired power in the energy mix as long as the emissions from burning the fossil fuel could be captured, particularly by carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.
CCS technology had first to be trialled by power generators, starting with a series of government-funded demonstration projects. As the Kingnorth is among the leading candidates, any backtracking by E.ON does not bode well for the prospects of the UK ramping up to full-scale CCS projects, at estimated cost of a £1 billion a time.
A wider concern is that with an election just round the corner, ministers drop the issue of coal-fired power like a hot potato as short-term political considerations takes priority over long-term planning.
Industry must, therefore, put pressure on all political parties to explain their respective positions on energy openly as Chemical Industries Association chief Steve Elliot did at the recent Conservative Party Conference: challenging them to make sure “manufacturing and the chemical industry underpins their economic and green agenda and are championed as a key part of the UK¹s future.”
