4 CCS Ready
20. A new build power station that is 'CCS Ready'
will have fulfilled certain conditions that will enable it to
retrofit CCS technology in the future, once the technology has
been proved viable. The use of CCS readiness as a planning condition
will be essential should the Government permit the construction
of new fossil fuel-fired power stations before CCS technology
has been demonstrated commercially. CCS readiness has already
been included as a condition in the planning permission of a handful
of gas-fired power stations, although the status of this requirement
is far from clear.[33]
21. EU proposals for a Directive on the Geological
Storage of Carbon Dioxide would require all new combustion plants
of 300MW or above to be CCS ready. The Government has stated:
'our interim position is a positive one in regards to the intention
of the carbon capture readiness proposal, but we are seeking more
clarity about its scope and how the Commission intend it to be
implemented'.[34] However,
EON.UK said that, although there was no direct requirement for
CCS readiness, it had become clear that planning applications
for fossil fuel-fired power stations were unlikely to succeed
unless they did make such provision.[35]
This shows that the Government
and planners are already sending a signal to operators that CCS
readiness should be a consideration in their applications. However,
in the absence of a large-scale demonstration project, the definitions
of CCS readiness are necessarily vague. Some require little more
than the provision of land alongside the power station, where
a future CCS plant could be built.
22. CCS readiness is only half the battle. The term
'CCS ready' is too often conflated with an assumption that the
power station will have CCS in the future. E.ON UK told
us:
The proposed new Kingsnorth power station will
be built carbon capture ready and, once the technology has been
demonstrated at a commercial scale, we will retrofit CCS to the
new units as soon as regulatory and market conditions reward the
investment.[36]
As we have already shown, even once CCS has been
shown to be technologically viable, the challenge of making it
commercially attractive will remain. There is no guarantee
that a plant approved on the basis that it would be CCS ready
will actually be willing or able to retrofit CCS once the technology
has been demonstrated on a commercial scale. We believe that planning
permission granted on the condition of CCS readiness is meaningless
unless the Government places a requirement on all power generators
to retrofit CCS as soon as it is available and to shut down any
power stations which are not then fitted with CCS. Such a requirement
would need to be supported by continued investment in research
and development and action to ensure that CCS becomes commercially
viable.
33 QQ 96-97 Back
34
Ev 16 Back
35
Q5 Back
36
Ev 1 Back
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