Energy firm E.ON UK has picked Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Foster Wheeler Energy to lead development and engineering of a carbon capture and storage (CCS) project at its proposed Kingsnorth coal-fired power plant in Kent, England. The firm is not disclosing financial details of the project. The deal coincides with the launch of the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change’s clean coal consultation, which will provide financial support for commercial-scale CCS demonstration projects.
E.ON plans to replace the two existing units at its Kingsnorth plant with ?high efficiency? units which it claims will burn coal more cleanly. MHI and Foster will engineer and integrate CCS technology into the facility, which will separate and capture carbon dioxide emissions from the flue gas. The firms will transport these captured emissions to a diminished gas reservoir under the North Sea. E.ON expects the project to initially capture around 2m tons per year of carbon dioxide emissions.
"We've already made a commitment to fit capture technology to the proposed new units at Kingsnorth, dependent upon the outcome of the consultation, but that of course also relies upon us being granted approval to go ahead with the project," says E.ON UK CEO, Dr Paul Golby. ?What we need to see is a clear framework that will enable the technology to develop both at demonstration scale and at a commercial level. We simply can't wait for such critical investments to be driven by the carbon price alone.?
StrategyEye's related companies: E.ON AG
