Engineering news
Energy firm E.On is to close its 1,940MW coal-fired Kingsnorth power station in Kent as a result of the requirements of European Union environmental legislation.
The EU's Large Combustion Plant Directive requires older power stations that were not adapted to meet emissions-reduction targets to close after generating for 20,000 hours from 1 January 2008, or at the end of 2015, whichever comes first. Kingsnorth, which was originally commissioned in 1970, will have reached the end of its allocated running hours by March next year and will be taken offline.
Dr. Tony Cocker, chief executive of E.On UK, said: “Kingsnorth has played a huge part in powering the country for many decades. I want to pay tribute to the thousands of men and women who have worked at the station over its lifetime, bringing light and warmth to the homes and businesses of the UK.
“We've been working hard with colleagues at the station to help, guide and support them through the process which will be ongoing until the station closes. In addition to our colleagues we will be communicating with the local community in the coming weeks about our closure plans.”
E.On said that new capacity was being brought online. Last year it opened a gas-fired combined heat and power plant on the Isle of Grain and the company is also investing in a number of renewable projects including the London Array offshore wind farm in the Thames Estuary.
Alongside the closure of the current Kingsnorth plant, E.On is withdrawing its application for development consent for two new coal units, which would be fitted with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, at the site. Kingsnorth was one of two schemes shortlisted as part of the government's competition to build the UK's first commercial CCS scheme. But the company said that market incentives were still not conducive to building the 1,600MW supercritical power station.
Cocker added: “As a group we believe CCS can become an important step in the transition to a low-carbon generation mix with the right regulatory, technological and economic support. We're promoting CCS research and development across Europe by partnering with universities and by testing carbon-capture equipment at several of our power stations across Europe. Lessons from our projects will be shared with the UK and the entire E.On group.
“Our announcement does not rule out future power generation on the site, which remains an excellent location for a new plant given its proximity to demand in the south-east, but the original plans are no longer appropriate.”