Peel joins forces for green power station bid
PEEL HOLDINGS today joined forced with German power giant RWE npower and Danish firm DONG energy to bid for a multi-million pound project to develop a new generation of coal-fired power stations.
The privately-owned Manchester company has created a joint venture, called Peel Energy CCS, to bid for a contract to to develop a prototype power station which will capture and store its CO2 emissions under the North Sea in disused gas fields.
The government is offering a subsidy of several hundred million pounds to the winner of the competition.
The link up with RWE npower and DONG energy marks Peel’s latest foray into the energy sector. Last monthy Peel Energy announced a deal with UK Coal to develop 54 windfarms on former colliery land.
RWE npower has taken a 75% stake in Peel Energy CCS, which was formerly jointly owned by Peel Energy and DONG Energy. RWE npower was originally excluded from the short list for technical reasons.
Should the project be successful in the competition, it would comprise a capture facility of up to 400MW which would form part of a new cleaner coal-fired power station.
It is proposed that the CO2 would then be transported to disused gas fields in the North Sea where it would be permanently stored. The project could be up and running by 2014.
Owen Michaelson, chairman of Peel Energy, said today: “We are delighted that first Dong Energy and now RWE npower have the confidence to invest and join with Peel Energy in the CCS Competition.
“Peel is committed to low carbon generation and we are determined to be at the forefront of developing the know-how to capture and permanently store CO2 from coal-fired power stations.
“We have always seen this as an immense challenge requiring a very strong and wide ranging partnership. We believe we have now created the foundation of that partnership with Dong Energy and RWE npower and we thoroughly look forward to working with them and the government towards a cleaner way of generating energy for future generations.”
RWE npower CEO Andrew Duff said: “Energy companies cannot commit to commercial investment in CCS on a new power station until the technology is proven and seen to be economically feasible.
“This could be a major barrier to the construction of much needed new build power plant and so this project is vital to unblocking the potential for coal to play its part in the UK’s long term energy mix.
“Clean coal generation is vital in order for us to reconcile the often conflicting interests of security, environment and affordability, given the impending closure of many of our older power stations.”
