| Kingsnorth | |
|---|---|
Kingsnorth Power Station Viewed from the west in October 2007 |
|
| Country | England |
| Location | Hoo St Werburgh Kent |
| Coordinates | |
| Commission date | 1973 |
| Operator(s) | Central Electricity Generating Board (1973-1990) PowerGen (1990-2002) E.ON UK (2002-present) |
| Power station information | |
| Primary fuel | Coal-fired |
| Secondary fuel | Oil-fired |
| Tertiary fuel | Biofuel |
| grid reference TQ809721 | |
Kingsnorth is a dual-fired coal and oil power station on the Hoo Peninsula at Medway in Kent, South East England. The four-unit station is owned and operated by energy firm E.ON UK, and has a generating capacity of 1,940 megawatts.[1] It is capable of operating on either coal or oil though in practice oil is used only as a secondary fuel or for startup.[2] It is also capable of co-firing biofuel, up to a maximum of 10% of the station's fuel mix.[1] Under EU pollution regulations it is due to close by 2016, but a replacement power station, also coal-fired, is planned by owners E.ON. The proposed replacement has attracted substantial public protests and criticism, including the 2008 Camp for Climate Action.
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Built on the site of a former World War I airship base, the station was constructed between 1963 and 1973 by the then Central Electricity Generating Board. From 1975 to the early 1980s, Kingsnorth was linked to the London power grid by HVDC Kingsnorth, one of the few examples of high-voltage direct current transmission then in use.
Kingsnorth has been opted out of the European Union's Large Combustion Plants Directive, which means it will only be allowed to run for up to 20,000 hours after 1 January 2008 (around 2 and a half years' continuous running) and must close by 31 December 2015.[3]
On the evening of January 2, 2010, a fire broke out in one of the pump rooms of the power station. The fire was put out by fifteen fire engines and five specialist units, though the building was badly damaged and had to be shut down.[4]
As a replacement for the four old Kingsnorth units, in October 2006 E.ON proposed the construction of two new coal-fired units, Kingsnorth Units 5 and 6. E.ON currently propose constructing two new 800 MW supercritical coal-fired power units on the site, to be operational "as early as 2012".[5] If completed, this would be the first new coal powered plant in the UK since the completion of the Drax power station in 1986.
E.ON expects the supercritical units to reduce carbon dioxide emissions per unit of electricity by around 20%, as compared to the existing subcritical plant.[6] E.ON also says the new units will be "capture ready" to allow the option of retrofitting with carbon capture and storage (CCS). Their environmental statement reads:
"CCS will be considered as an option...subject to the process of CCS being allowed by law and incentivised by a suitable framework and technological hurdles for the process being overcome"[6]
On 31 March 2008 E.ON announced that the new Kingsnorth power station would be used in a bid for the Government's carbon capture and storage competition.[7][8] In addition E.ON proposed that the planning decision should be delayed until after the Government has completed its consultation on CCS.
On 30 June 2008 it was announced that Kingsnorth project had proceeded to the next stage of the competition (prequalification) with three other competitors.[9]
In March 2009 Ed Miliband said that he was postponing a decision on Kingsnorth[10] and then E.ON chief executive said that "Without commercial carbon capture, it's 'game over'"[11]
On 7 October 2009 E.ON postponed the replacement until at least 2016.[12]
On 20 October 2010 it was announced that the build of the replacement had been shelved.
The building of ‘Kingsnorth 2’ has come under much criticism from many groups including:
Climate scientist and head of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies James E. Hansen condemned the building of new coal power stations within carbon capture, stating: In the face of such threats [from climate change] it is madness to propose a new generation of power plants based on burning coal, which is the dirtiest and most polluting of all the fossil fuels. We need a moratorium on the construction of coal-fired power plants and we must phase out the existing ones within two decades[20] He is however more accepting of coal with CCS stating that Coal could still be a long-term energy source for power plants, if the carbon dioxide is captured and sequestered underground.[21]
Greenpeace is sceptical that CCS technology is viable.[22]
Criticism comes from the large greenhouse gas emissions associated with burning coal and its effect on the atmosphere and global warming. Much of the criticism comes from the inefficiencies of coal power plants compared to gas power plants, particularly combined heat and power plants.
Six Greenpeace protesters were arrested for breaking in to the power station, climbing the 200 metre chimney, painting the word Gordon on the chimney and causing an estimated £30,000 damage. At their subsequent trial they admitted trying to shut the station down but argued that they were legally justified because they were trying to prevent climate change from causing greater damage to property elsewhere around the world. Evidence was heard from David Cameron's environment adviser Zac Goldsmith, and an Inuit leader from Greenland, both saying that climate change was already seriously affecting life around the world. The six were acquitted after arguing that they were legally justified in their actions to prevent climate change from causing greater damage to property around the world. It was the first case where preventing property damage caused by climate change has been used as part of a "lawful excuse" defence in court.[23]
In December 2008 Greenpeace received a letter from the Crown Prosecution Service revealing that the Attorney-General was close to referring the case of the Kingsnorth Six to the Court of Appeal in an effort to remove the defence of ‘lawful excuse' from activists. Also in December the New York Times listed the acquittal in its annual list of the most influential ideas that will change our lives[24]
The 2008 Camp for Climate Action was held near the power station and 50 people were arrested trying to break into the site.[25] Some of the tactics used by police during the demonstration have been the subject of complaints, a judicial review, and mainstream media criticism.[26][27][28][29][30]
On 29 October 2008, Greenpeace activists occupied part of the power station after accessing the site using boats including the Rainbow Warrior. There was an hour-long stand-off with security staff before they boarded the plant's jetty and demonstrated while others set up camp on a concrete island owned by E.ON. Protesters projected campaign messages on the building, and then on a bulldozer brought in by the company to block the image, until the early hours of the following morning when they were served with a high court injunction.[31]
On 28 November 2008 a lone protester entered the plant undetected and shut down unit 2, one of the station's 500 MW turbines, leaving a message reading "no new coal". The turbine was offline for four hours.[32]
On 22 June 2009, ten Greenpeace activists boarded a fully loaded coal delivery ship bound for Kingsnorth.[33][34]
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