UK firms up 'clean coal' plans
12 Nov 2009
Framework document confirms position announced earleir this year that there will be no new coal-fired power stations built in England and Wales unless they are equipped with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. The document, which is based on a co
London - The UK government has issued its Framework for the Development of Clean Coal, which, confirms its position announced earleir this year that there will be no new coal-fired power stations built in England and Wales unless they are equipped with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. The document, which is based on a consultation launched in June, is stated to set out the most environmentally ambitious set of coal conditions of any country in the world.
Under the Framwork, to gain development consent all new coal plant will have to show that they will demonstrate the full CCS chain (capture, transport and storage) from the outset on at least 300 MW net of their total output.
A programme of up to four commercial-scale CCS demonstrations, including both pre-combustion and post-combustion capture technologies, will be funded by a new CCS Incentive. Legislation to introduce this has been proposed for the forthcoming Parliamentary session.
The Government report envisages a long-term transition to clean coal, with the demo plants retrofitting CCS to their full capacity by 2025, and the CCS Incentive able to provide financial support for their retrofit.
“A rolling review process, which is planned to report by 2018, will consider the case for new regulatory and financial measures to further drive the move to clean coal. In the event that CCS is evidently not going to become a viable technology option, an appropriate regulatory approach for managing emissions from coal power stations will be needed,” it also stated.
The Government also confirmed that it had received two bids - from E.ON and Scottish Power - to proceed to the next stage of the current CCS demonstration competition. It is expected that contracts for the detailed design stage will be concluded early next year.
In addition, the European Commission has provisionally selected Powerfuels to receive €180m to develop a pre-combustion CCS power station at Hatfield. The Commission and Powerfuels are now negotiating the terms of the funding.
