UK-based coal company Powerfuel has signed a licence agreement to use Shell Gas & Power International’s proprietary gasification technology in its proposed 900 MW power station at Hatfield, in South Yorkshire.
The integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) coal-fired project is also expected to enable carbon capture and storage to take place at the lowest cost using current technology.
Powerfuel chief executive Richard Budge said: “We are delighted to be working with Shell in our vision to be the first commercial-scale coal fired power generator with carbon capture in the world.” Peter de Wit, Shell Gas & Power executive vice president added that the deal is the second the company has signed in Europe in less than a year.
The project already has a generation licence and engineering work will now proceed to the conclusion of a full front end engineering design package, following which construction is expected to take 3 – 4 years. Discussions are continuing with third parties with a view to the construction of a pipeline to transport CO2 from Humberside, an area with very large carbon dioxide emitters, to secure storage sites in the North Sea.
Budge, commenting on a UK government programme to support a carbon capture and storage project as announced in the recent budget said: “We believe that our project represents the lowest cost approach to the important challenges that face the electricity industry in this country and overseas.”
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