E.ON's report outlines the plans for a CO2 pipeline for its proposed cleaner coal-fired power station

Enstreet News Bureau
3/4/2010

E.ON (Dusseldorf, Germany), a leading utility company, has submitted environmental scoping reports outlining the company's plans for a CO₂ pipeline for its proposed Kingsnorth cleaner coal-fired power station.

The plans are part of a vision for Kingsnorth to be the gateway to CCS development in the UK, enabling the future development of a ‘CCS Cluster' in the South East.

The scoping reports outline the steps the company will take towards developing final plans for the pipeline, which will go across the Hoo Peninsula and then be placed in a trench on the seabed taking it to the depleted North Sea gas fields which will be used for storage.

The final proposals are expected to be submitted to Medway Council as part of a full pipeline planning application towards the end of this year.

Ed Walker, E.ON's Project Development Manager, said: "We believe that our plans for Kingsnorth represent the best opportunity to provide industrial scale evidence of the viability of CCS and the crucial role it could play in meeting the UK's future energy needs. Today's announcement is the next stage of this continuing process.

"As we have done at every stage, we'll be working closely with local communities across the Hoo Peninsula to update them on our plans and to take their views on board."

The planned route for the pipeline heads north from the power station to the coast at a point near St Mary's Marshes, passing to the west of Stoke village.

The pipeline would have sufficient capacity in the long term to allow a ‘Thames Cluster' of carbon capture projects to be developed, transporting 24 million tons of CO₂ each year to storage sites under the North Sea. This equates to the emissions from around two supercritical Kingsnorth-sized coal-fired power stations and three Grain-sized gas-fired CHP power stations.

"Far from being just about one project, we believe that Kingsnorth has an exciting role to play as a gateway to unlocking the South East energy industry's potential to decarbonize, something that will become increasingly important as we make the move to a low carbon future," said Ed.

A series of public exhibitions is planned across the peninsula, from week starting 26th April 2010. Further information on times and venues will be published in the coming weeks.

Source: EON