New Coal Power Station In UK "Shortly"

The European Commission is likely "within the week" to declare its support for the building of a new coal-fired power station in Britain, claims the MEP who last year steered carbon capture and storage legislation through the European Parliament.

Chris Davies says that plans for a new "clean coal" power station to be constructed at Hatfield, near Doncaster, by Richard Budge's Powerfuel Power company, are expected to be backed by an initial subsidy of €180 million from the EU economic recovery programme.

The Liberal Democrat claims that the failure of E.ON to gain similar backing is the real reason for the company's decision to defer building the controversial new coal power station at Kingsnorth.

He said: "An announcement is due very shortly about the locations of seven carbon capture and storage demonstration projects to be built across Europe.  The word on the Brussels street is that Hatfield has beaten off rival funding bids for schemes at Kingsnorth, Tilbury and Longannet.

Davies dismissed claims from some green activists that the deferral of Kingsnorth meant the end of coal as a source of power in the UK.  

"Coal will be used to generate electricity for many decades to come, but it will be coal with the CO2 removed and buried permanently in rocks deep beneath the North Sea."

The location of Hatfield is said to be idea for developing a 'Humber Cluster' of CCS projects that within 15 years could curb the emission into the atmosphere of up to 70 million tonnes of CO2.

The Powerfuel project has the backing of National Grid, which aims to build a network of CO2 pipelines linking power stations and major industrial installations across Yorkshire and Humberside.

See all the documents relating to the projects here.