Delays feared for new wave of 'clean' coal-fired power stations as two large schemes held up

Fears were growing this week that a new wave of “clean” coal-fired power stations would be delayed further after setbacks to two large schemes.

On Monday, Dutch utility Dong Energy pulled out of a joint venture to build a 1,600MW plant at Hunterston in Ayrshire.

The news followed on the heels of an announcement from E.ON that it was putting its £1.5bn Kingsnorth project on ice. Both schemes planned to use carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.

The news raised the possibility of further delay to the government’s £1bn competition to develop a CCS demonstration project, which is already running at least two years behind schedule. The plant that wins the funding is intended to be up and running by 2014.

Topics