Facts:

RWE npower has announced a feasibility study into the construction of a 1000 MW supercritical coal power station at Tilbury, Essex. The plant would incorporate post-combustion carbon capture and storage and could be operational by 2016, saving up to 90% of the plants carbon dioxide emissions per year. The Tilbury plant was originally part of the Government funding competition but did not pre- qualify.

RWE npower’s Tilbury Power Station is located on the north bank of the Thames Estuary, in Essex. The 1428 MW coal fired power station began producing electricity in 1956 and can power 1.4 million homes, playing an essential role in providing secure energy supplies for the UK.

Originally an oil-fired station, today Tilbury burns ‘biomass’ fuels alongside low-sulphur coal. Co-firing biomass like sawdust and palm kernel extract at Tilbury generates enough ’carbon neutral’ electricity to supply approximately 50,000 homes per year, and reduces the need for an equivalent amount of coal generation.

RWE entered into a partnership with the Shaw Group to carry out the feasibility study and the cost estimate was in excess of 1 billion GBP. The study looks into supercritical plant technology that will improve the efficiency of the combustion process together with ‘carbon capture’ systems. The announcement followed proposals outlined 30 March 2006 by parent company RWE to investigate the building of a 1 billion EURO CO2 free plant in Germany, subject to the necessary political framework conditions and authorisations.

The Tilbury study looks at the end-to-end process from planning and consent to transport and storage options. RWE npower also uses its testing facilities at Didcot in Oxfordshire to examine ways to improve combustion efficiency and develop the chemical processes for stripping out and capturing the CO2.

Companies involved

Homepage:

www.rwe.com