E.ON UK has submitted an application to the UK government to build what will be the UK's first new coal-fired units for over 20 years, the company says.

<p>Having submitted a scoping document for the two state-of-the-art cleaner coal 800MW units at its existing Kingsnorth power station in Kent last month, the company has now decided to apply to build the new units.<br /><br />Dr Paul Golby, chief executive of E.ON UK said: Our aim is to invest for the future to change the way we approach energy in the UK. That means investing in new, cleaner ways to generate power, whether in large power stations such as this or in renewables, as well as by introducing new products and services for our customers.<br /><br />These new units will be unlike anything we&#0039;ve seen in the UK before and will play a vital role in helping keep our lights on and in combating climate change in the longer term.<br /><br />The new, supercritical, units would be built next to the existing four units at the station and would come on line in 2012 once they had been proven. The existing units would then be shut down and demolished.<br /><br />The new units would cost around GBP1 billion to build and could be capable of burning energy crops, called biomass, alongside coal.</p>