"UK should call for freeze on the 75 new coal -fired power stations planned for Europe"

By Paul Eccleston
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 02/07/2008

The UK should lead the way in calling for a freeze on the building of new coal-fired power stations, according to a think-tank report.

A Europe-wide block for at least two years on coal investment is necessary if cuts in carbon emissions are to be achieved.

RWE owned Neurath coal power station near Grevenbroich, Germany
The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) says the target of reducing CO2 emissions from the power sector and heavy industry of 21 per cent by 2020 is threatened by plans for new coal plants.
The IPPR says there are proposals for 75 new coal plants across Europe including seven in the UK. So far only one formal application has been made, by E.On UK, to build a new plant at Kingsnorth in Kent.
The IPPR study says that even if only a proportion of the plants are built, the EU emissions reduction target would only be achievable through widespread use of the untested technology of carbon capture and storage (CCS).
Although CCS has the potential to cut carbon emissions from coal plants by up to 90 per cent, the technology is unlikely to be ready until after 2020 according to industry experts.
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Earlier this week the Government announced that four energy companies - BP, E.ON, Peel Power and Scottish Power - have been shortlisted to build one of the first CCS plants in the world.
CCS traps carbon dioxide - the most common greenhouse gas - which is created when fossil fuels are burnt and stores it permanently underground. The project will capture CO2 from a coal-fired power plant after combustion, and show how it can be trapped, transported and stored.
Energy Secretary John Hutton said the scheme, along with a consultation on how to make new fossil fuel power stations ready to take the technology once it is available, would help meet a goal of making CCS ready for wide-scale deployment by 2020.
Matthew Lockwood, senior research fellow at IPPR and author of the report, said: "The Government says that the EU's carbon trading scheme is the central pillar of its climate policy, not only for reducing emissions but also for building a global climate change agreement.
"However, that pillar is still weak, and IPPR's report shows that the scheme would collapse in the event of a new coal rush. Europe needs to do two things urgently - freeze conventional coal investment until we get greater certainty, and accelerate the development of new carbon capture technologies."
The report says a moratorium on new coal power plants should remain in place until uncertainty about a new post-Kyoto global climate deal is resolved - at least until 2010 - and carbon markets are guiding investment more effectively. It also calls on the Government to take up the issue with Germany, the largest potential new coal market in order to agree an EU-wide moratorium.
The IPPR says speeding up the CCS timetable is essential alongside an EU Directive on CCS as part of an energy and climate package which includes finance for the EU's goal of 12 demonstration plants.
The UK should also support a second CCS demonstration project and begin planning the national infrastructure that will be needed to transport and store carbon dioxide in natural rock formations in the North Sea.
In the UK, energy companies are considering investing in up to seven new coal-fired power stations although only one formal application has so far been made.
Estimates of new coal capacity being considered across the EU range from 38 GW to 64 GW. Germany, the UK, Holland, Poland and Italy are the major potential new coal markets.
Potential new UK coal plants
Location
Company
Capacity
Status at January 2008
Kingsnorth
E.ON
1.6 GW
Approved by Medway Council, with BERR for Section 36 approval
High Marnham
E.ON
1.6 GW
N/A
Tilbury
RWE npower
1.6 GW
Scoping report submitted. S36 application imminent
Blyth
RWE npower
2.4 GW
Scoping report submitted. S36 application imminent
Ferrybridge
Scottish and Southern Energy
800 MW
Scoping studies underway. S36 application shortly
Longannet
Scottish Power
2.3 GW
Feasibility study announced
Cockenzie
Scottish Power
1.15 GW
Feasibility study announced
Section 36 refers to approval required for all large power plants from the Secretary of State