Coal plugs the energy gap – for now

Cleaner coal plants, like the new Kingsnorth power station, are necessary until alternatives come on stream

David Porter
guardian.co.uk,
Tuesday August 05 2008 17:00 BST

E.ON UK, one of the UK's leading energy companies, has decided that it wants to replace one of its old, coal-fired power stations with a modern one using the latest available coal combustion technology. The new power station will be 20% more efficient than the current power station. It will replace it one-for-one, on the same site – so no additional infrastructure requirements, such as access roads, and no conversion of a site to industrial use. The planning application, one might think, will be a shoo-in.
However, this expectation has been turned on its head. While the debate around UK energy policy rages, the planning application has been with the government since December 2006. Recently, even the developer called for the government's planning decision to be postponed in order to allow for more clarity on energy policy. And this week, the Camp for Climate Action has threatened to shut down the existing power station to protest against the new plant.
Energy policy is complicated at the best of times. It has to reconcile security of supply, affordability and sustainability. Recent retail price increases have focused attention on affordability, and all the while environmental requirements are transforming the industry and pushing up costs. UK electricity generators are increasingly investing in renewable energy sources such as wind, wave and tidal or biomass, to name but a few. Last year, the share of electricity generated from renewable energy sources reached 5%. The most ambitious targets for 2020 only set the share of renewables at 15% of energy and around 30% of electricity. In order to maintain security of supply, the remaining 70% will have to come from other sources.
The other energy sources at our disposal are fossil fuels and nuclear power. Nuclear power is controversial, but emits no greenhouse gases during electricity production. Fossil fuels, on the other hand, do. Since 2005 the amount of carbon emissions from power generation has been limited, though, by the EU emissions trading scheme.
The scheme incentivises companies to become more innovative and invest in greener technologies in order to limit their emissions. Electricity generators are now looking at "greener", more efficient ways of generating and are planning to invest billions of pounds over the next decade. This investment will be crucial as we face the closure of over a quarter of the current power station fleet by the middle of the next decade, as stations come to the end of their lives. Gas-fired power stations are one answer to the energy gap, but companies will not want to become over-dependent on gas, a fuel the UK increasingly has to import. Nuclear power is another part of the answer. Clean coal is the final piece of the jigsaw.
Some campaigners criticise the use of the word "clean" in relation to coal. It might be very confident, but it indicates the direction of travel. It stands for highly efficient technologies, so less coal has to be burnt for the same electricity output, causing fewer emissions. In the long term, the industry wants to use carbon capture and storage (CCS) – a technology which would allow 90% of emissions or more to be captured and stored underground. However, CCS is expensive and unproven, and we need the government to support the development and demonstration of CCS.
If we want diversity of supply – not being overdependent on one fuel, such as gas – and security of supply, we need coal for the foreseeable future. If all "unsuitable" power stations were to stop operating tomorrow, we would be back to the three-day week – indeed the working week might be even shorter than that. Renewables are expanding fast, but they cannot yet meet all our energy requirements, nor all our electricity demand. Coal can help meet the demand for new power stations over the next decade. That is why Kingsnorth power station is so important for the energy future of this country.