The number of coal fired power stations and planning applications for opencast coal mines in the UK have increased significantly according to report recently published by a climate change and energy research charity.
The Public Interest Research Centre (PRIC) reported that 58 coal mining applications for either coal mine extensions or new mines have been submitted over the last 18 months. The mines are generally in southern Scotland and Northern England.
Coal price and electricity demand are cited as reasons for the increased number of proposals with coal prices more than trebling from 2006 to earlier this year.
Seven coal power stations are currently at the early proposal stage including the controversial Kingsnorth Power Station project in Kent proposed by German utility EON and the Ayrshire project by Peel Energy and Danish company Dong Energy. Both projects are potential candidates for the carbon capture and storage technology experiments.
Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Milliband is due to determine the Kingsnorth planning application this year, however his brother David Milliband currently Foreign Secretary has publically stated that he does not believe the plant should be built unless it can test commercial-scale carbon capture. John Hutton – Business Secretary however believes it should be built even if not chosen for the experiment on the basis that emissions would be lower than existing coal-fired stations and would not increase pollution because Britain’s emissions are capped under the EU emissions trading scheme.
The Kingsnorth decision will set a precedent and send out a key message for the future of fossil fuel generating plant in the UK. It will be interesting to see what the Government perceives as more important – showing leadership in combating the effects of climate change or the risk of a less secure cheap energy supply. This may in turn have implications for future decisions on renewable energy projects such as large and potentially controversial wind energy proposals.
