According to the company, at 3MW in size the plant will be at least eight times the size of existing ‘post-combustion’ projects in the UK and operate for twice as long. The pilot is expected to represent the company’s next phase of CCS research and development in the UK.
RWE already has operational CO2 capture plants at npower’s Didcot Power Station in Oxfordshire and at Niederaussem in Germany. It is part of a joint venture testing the technology at the Mountaineer plant in Virginia in the US, and is developing plans for a large scale carbon dioxide capture plant at a new coal-fired station at Eemshaven in the Netherlands.
Kevin McCullough, chief technical officer of RWE npower, said: “Modern coal-fired power station designs are already far more efficient than previous generations, but we must also press ahead with carbon dioxide capture and storage development.
“The challenge lies in moving from laboratory testing conditions to industrial scale operations. This project is a vital step in the process and it will help keep us at the forefront of cleaner coal development.”
RWE npower said that it was not intending to apply for consent for new coal-fired power plants at Tilbury in Essex and Blyth in Northumberland, but these continued to be excellent power generation options for the future.
The PECCS joint venture, of which RWE npower is a part, said it will not submit a bid to progress to the next stage of the government’s existing CCS competition but the partner companies said they remained interested in future CCS demonstration projects.
