Kingsnorth power station

Kingsnorth power station is a 1,985-megawatt dual-fired coal or oil power station in Medway, Kent, England, on the Hoo Peninsula. The station, constructed between 1963 and 1973 by the Central Electricity Generating Board, [cite web
url=http://www.eon-uk.com/images/Environmental_Statement_Kingsnorth.pdf
title=Proposed Replacement Coal-fired Units for Kingsnorth Power Station
date=c 2006 p222] is owned and operated by energy firm E.ON UK. It is capable of operating on either coal or oil though in practice oil is used only as a secondary fuel or for startup. [cite web
url=http://www.eon-uk.com/generation/oil.aspx
title=Generation - Oil
publisher=E.ON UK]

From 1975 to the early 1980s, Kingsnorth was linked to the London power grid by HVDC Kingsnorth, one of the few examples of high-voltage direct current transmission then in use.

Kingsnorth has been opted out of the Large Combustion Plants Directive which means it will only be allowed to run for up to 20,000 hours after 1 January 2008 and must close by 31 December 2015. [cite web
url=http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file37586.pdf
title=The Role of Coal in Electricity Generation
publisher=Association of Electricity Producers]

The power station has been selected as the site for the 2008 Camp for Climate Action, in common with eight other camps globally that will be targeting coal. [cite web
url=http://www.climatecamp.org.uk/pr2-3-08.php
title=Camp for Climate Action to target Kingsnorth power station
publisher=The Camp for Climate Action]

Kingsnorth Units 5 and 6

E.ON currently propose constructing two new 800 MW supercritical coal-fired power units on the site, to be operational "as early as 2012".cite paper
url=http://www.eon-uk.com/images/Environmental_Statement_Kingsnorth.pdf
title=Proposed Replacement Coal-fired Units for Kingsnorth Power Station. Environmental statement
publisher = E.ON UK
pages=v
format=PDF
accessdate=2008-03-04] If completed, this would be the first new coal powered plant in the UK since the completion of Drax power station in 1986.

E.ON expects the supercritical units to reduce carbon dioxide emissions per unit of electricity by around 20%, as compared to the existing subcritical plant.cite paper
url=http://www.eon-uk.com/images/Environmental_Statement_Kingsnorth.pdf
title=Proposed Replacement Coal-fired Units for Kingsnorth Power Station. Environmental statement
publisher = E.ON UK
pages=2
format=PDF
accessdate=2008-03-04] E.ON also says the new units will be "capture ready" to allow the option of retrofitting with carbon capture and storage (CCS). Their environmental statement reads:

"CCS will be considered as an option...subject to the process of CCSbeing allowed by law and incentivised by a suitable framework and technological hurdles for the process being overcome"

On 31 March 2008 E.ON announced that the new Kingsnorth power station would be used in a bid for the Government's carbon capture and storage competition. [cite news
url=http://pressreleases.eon-uk.com/blogs//eonukpressreleases/archive/2008/03/31/E.ON-enters-UK-Government_2700_s-Carbon-Capture-and-Storage-competition.aspx
title=E.ON enters UK Government's carbon capture and storage competition. Press release
publisher = E.ON UK
date=2008-03-31
accessdate=2008-03-31] [cite web
url=http://www.berr.gov.uk/energy/sources/sustainable/carbon-abatement-tech/ccs-demo/page40961.html
title=CCS Demonstration Competition
publisher = Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
accessdate=2008-03-31] In addition E.ON proposed that the planning decision should be delayed until after the Government has completed its consultation on CCS.

On 30 June 2008 it was announced that Kingsnorth project had proceeded to the next stage of the competition (prequalification) with three other competitors. [cite news
url=http://nds.coi.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=372398&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=True
title=CCS Demonstration Prequalification
publisher = Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
date=2008-06-30
accessdate=2008-08-12]

Criticism

The building of ‘Kingsnorth 2’ has come under much criticism from campaigning groups including Greenpeace, Christian Aid and the World Development Movementcite web
url= http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/blog/climate/the-new-coal-rush
title=The new coal rush
publisher=Greenpeace
date=2007-04-30
accessdate=2008-03-22] cite web
url=http://www.christianaid.org.uk/stoppoverty/climatechange/stories/Take_action_on_Kingsnorth.aspx
title=Take action of Kingsnorth
publisher=Chirstian Aid
date=2008-02-06
accessdate=2008-03-22] cite web
url= http://www.wdm.org.uk/news/kingsnorth03012008.htm
title=Government must stop new Kingsnorth coal- fired power plant
publisher=World Development Movement
date=2008-01-03
accessdate=2008-03-22] . In addition the WWF, The Royal Society and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birdscite web
url=http://www.wwf.org.uk/news/n_0000004665.asp
title=Kingsnorth power station decision bodes badly for climate
publisher=WWF
date=2008-01-03
accessdate=2008-03-22] cite web
url= http://blogs.rspb.org.uk/news/archive/2008/03/14/That_2700_s-what-you-call-action.aspx
title=That’s what you call action
publisher=RSPB
date=2008-03-14
accessdate=2008-03-22] object to the lack of CCS in the proposal. Greenpeace is particularly sceptical about the viability of CCS and its ability to reduce emissions. [cite web
url= http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/blog/climate/wont-kingsnorth-use-ccs-technology-20080218
title=Won't Kingsnorth use carbon capture and storage technology?
publisher=Greenpeace
date=2008-02-18
accessdate=2008-03-22]

Criticism comes from the large greenhouse gas emissions associated with burning coal and its effect of the atmosphere and global warming. Much of the criticism comes from the inefficiencies of coal power plants compared to gas power plants particularly combined heat and power plants. Christian Aid has noted that the emissions from the plant will be over 10 times the annual emissions from Rwanda.

Climate scientist and head of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies James Hansen has condemned the building of new coal power stations, stating:

In the face of such threats [from climate change] it is madness to propose a new generation of power plants based on burning coal, which is the dirtiest and most polluting of all the fossil fuels. We need a moratorium on the construction of coal-fired power plants and we must phase out the existing ones within two decades. [cite web
url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article3341039.ece
title=Climate scientist they could not silence
publisher=The Times Online
date= 2008-02-10
accessdate=2008-03-04]

However other statements indicate James is more receptive to coal if carbon capture is incorporated:

Coal could still be a long-term energy source for power plants, if the carbon dioxide is captured and sequestered underground. [cite web
url=http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/columnists/article1499726.ece
title=Special interests are the one big obstacle
publisher=The Times Online
date= 2007-03-12
accessdate=2008-03-19]

References

External links

* [http://www.eon-uk.com/generation/kingsnorth.aspx Kingsnorth power station]
* [http://www.wdm.org.uk/kingsnorth/ Anti-Kingsnorth replacement site]
* [http://pressreleases.eon-uk.com/blogs//eonukpressreleases/archive/2008/03/31/E.ON-enters-UK-Government_2700_s-Carbon-Capture-and-Storage-competition.aspx EON press release] On future plans for the Grain and Kingsnorth powerstations.