Council says No to Cockenzie gasfired station

Cockenzie CCGT upgrade proposes converting the coal station to high-efficiency gas-fired CCGT, cutting CO2 and NOx, supported by ScottishPower and Scotland's National Planning Framework amid local opposition and a public inquiry.

ScottishPower's plans to convert one of the company's two coal-fired plants into a combined-cycle gas turbine CCGT power station have run into trouble with local planning authorities.

The company, which is part of Spanish energy giant Iberdrola SA, has been trying to get permission to convert the 1,200megawatt MW Cockenzie Power Station to gas since 2007, but East Lothian Council voted against the plan. Cockenzie is scheduled to be shut down at the end of 2015, but the CCGT overhaul would extend the life of the plant until 2050.

ScottishPower wants to replace the four ageing coalfired generating units with two high-efficiency CCGT units. An expert report for the European Commission in 2009 cited Cockenzie as having the highest nitrogenoxide NOx emissions in Europe.

Alongside Cockenzie, ScottishPower owns the 2,400MW Longannet coalfired plant, and it recently completed its first carbon capture pilot at the site. The two plants generate about a quarter of Scotlands electricity needs. ScottishPower is planning to invest about £3 billion $4.6 billion in revamping both plants.

Local councillor Peter MacKenzie claimed Scotland should be considering greener forms of energy, including a clean coal plant in Scotland where appropriate. We have to decide: Are we going to be bullied in this way and told we cannot object to this? Or are we going to say we dont like it, and we are we going to take a stand, he told local papers.

Despite the objections, the Scottish government has already included Cockenzie in its National Planning Framework. There will be a public inquiry into the plans, but despite recent UK CCS setbacks the Scottish government will greenlight the CCGT upgrade.

Speaking to the BBC, a ScottishPower spokesman said: In Scotland there is a real need for new power generation to replace ageing stations like the coalfired one at Cockenzie that are due to close over the next decade. But we need new power generation that is more efficient and more environmentally friendly, including cheaper carbon capture options industry is developing today.

The Scottish government recognizes this, and its National Planning Framework has confirmed Cockenzies importance as a site for continued electricity generation. This [CCGT] technology is significantly more efficient than a coal station, and with a carbon capture unit in place CO2 emissions would be reduced by over 50, and there would be further major reductions in emissions across the board.

The controversy over Cockenzies future as a CCGT plant comes as Centricas 855MW Langage CCGT plant started full operations. The £400 million US $614 million plant, which is located near Plymouth in southwestern England, has been supplying some power to the National Grid since last September, while an carbon capture pipeline network has been proposed nationally, but is now fully operational. The plant took three years to construct and was originally scheduled to open in December 2008 before running into a series of serious delays. Last year, French contractor Alstom SA had to remove a large number of faulty gas pipes at the site.

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