UK coal-fired power station plan shelved

~ Campaigners celebrate “stunning victory” over dirty-coal ~

chimney

Image by celie

The proposal by Peel Group to build the 1,852MW coal-fired power station on the west coast of Scotland had been opposed for five years by a coalition of environmental, development and faith organisations spearheaded by WWF and the RSPB.  [2]

With the assistance of its global network of supporters, WWF had earlier helped generate the majority of the almost 22,000 letters of objection to the scheme - making it the most unpopular proposal in Scotland's planning history.

The groups had warned that the scheme would have contributed to global climate change and run counter to Scotland's world-leading climate change targets, undermined Scotland's ambitious plans to generate 100 per cent of its electricity from renewables, and damaged valuable local wildlife sites. [3]

Dr Richard Dixon, Director of WWF Scotland, said: "This is stunning victory and proof that polluting coal-fired power stations can be defeated through coordinated local, nation and international action. 

"It is clear that the company just finally woke up and realised that they were trying to push through the most unpopular planning application ever in Scotland.  With the local community opposed, the local council against it, over 22,000 objections and no chance of winning the public inquiry, walking away was the only sensible option.”

Although the company had claimed that it would capture some of the carbon from the power station, in reality 83% of the plants carbon emissions would still have gone straight up the chimney.

Dr Dixon added: "This was always the wrong application in the wrong place. With our world-leading climate change and ambitious renewable power targets to meet, the last thing Scotland needed was a new coal-fired power station hiding behind a green ‘figleaf’.

“At a time when we are supposed to be meeting tough climate and ambitious renewable energy targets the Hunterston proposal would have increased Scotland's climate emissions and trashed valuable local wildlife sites.  Let's hope a proposal like this never sees the light of day again."

The Say 'No' to Hunterston Campaign was made up of the following organisations: 

Church of Scotland, Christian Aid Scotland, Friends of the Earth Scotland, Greenpeace, Planning Democracy, Oxfam Scotland, RSPB Scotland, Scottish Wildlife Trust, World Development Movement Scotland, WWF Scotland

ENDS

NOTES:

[1] Press Release from Peel Energy

26th June 2012

Ayrshire Power puts power station with CCS on hold

Ayrshire Power Limited (APL), the company which submitted a planning application for a new multi-fuel power station with carbon capture and storage at Hunterston, North Ayrshire, has announced that it is withdrawing its planning application and withdrawing from the current CCS demonstration project funding competitions.

APL has taken this decision due to the level of uncertainty surrounding the ability to secure the necessary financial investment to build the power station in the foreseeable economic climate.

The decision means that the Public Local Inquiry for the development will not now proceed this autumn.

Hunterston, Scotland’s largest coal terminal, remains a strategically important facility for Scotland, especially as part of the Scottish Government’s low carbon energy policy combining unrivalled deepwater port facilities and direct access to the UK’s rail network via the development’s bespoke railhead. Over 500 direct and indirect jobs are dependent on the site.

Commenting on the decision, Muir Miller, APL’s project director said:

“Whilst we believe we have a strong case to succeed in the planning inquiry, we cannot proceed with the significant risk that the current power station design and fuel mix could not be funded and built in the necessary timetable following the grant of consent.

“However, we remain convinced that this project could give Scotland a superb opportunity to lead the development of full-scale carbon capture and storage, which will be vital in reducing global emissions and accords with Scottish Government policy to cut carbon emission and back-up intermittent renewable energy supplies.

“The project would also bring a large number of new jobs and new economic opportunities to a hard-pressed area which has been impacted particularly badly by the recession.  The opportunity to develop a CCS cluster on the west coast of the UK that could store over one billion tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2050 remains an exciting prospect.

“We still believe that new coal-fired power stations fitted with carbon capture and storage will play an important part in plugging the energy gap until alternative sources of low carbon energy can replace fossil fuels.  Hunterston remains an ideal location for such a power station. However, the timing of the economic slowdown and funding uncertainty have not worked in our favour. We will now take some time to consider our options and determine under what circumstances we will revisit our proposals.”

Notes:

Ayrshire Power Ltd

Ayrshire Power Ltd is owned by Peel Energy which is at the forefront of delivering low carbon energy for the UK. The company has a balanced portfolio of energy generation and development including wind, tidal power and biomass.

Peel Energy is part of the Peel Group, a leading real estate, transport and infrastructure investment company with assets under management approaching £6bn, employing some 5,000 people.

[2] There have been around 22,000 objections to the Hunterston coal plant proposals, making this the most unpopular application ever in Scotland.

The Portencross Coast SSSI includes important areas of sandflats, mudflats and eelgrass beds.  The SSSI is one of the best remaining examples of inter-tidal habitat left on the Outer Clyde, and provides an important feeding ground for wintering birds such as oystercatcher, curlew, wigeon, eider and shelduck.   The proposed plan would have involved infilling and destroying this valuable habitat and the loss of the habitat used by these birds as feeding and roosting areas.

For more information on the proposed plans to build a new coal-fired power station at Hunterston see www.rspb.org.uk/hunterston

[3] Scotland has the world’s strongest, legally binding, climate change targets: 42 per cent emission reductions (of all greenhouse gases) by 2020 and 80 per cent by 2050 (both on 1990 levels). These targets also cover emissions from aviation and shipping (both international and domestic)

Scotland also has a target to generate 100 per cent of the electricity it consumes annually from renewables by 2020.