Clean Coal and Renewable Energy Projects Underway in the U.K.

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The British government has announced that Britain will undergo the biggest power shake-up since the Industrial Revolution by targeting a renewable energy share of 15% in the country's power requirement by 2020. The plan comes with a $200 billion price tag that could see households in the United Kingdom paying 20% more for their electricity.

To comply with European Union directives on renewable energy, the U.K. could be investing up to 1% of its total GDP into the power transformation. The projects could provide up to 160,000 "green-collar" jobs and calls for having up to 7,000 new wind turbines in operation by 2020 and increasing the number of homes with solar heating from the present 90,000 to 7 million. Many who appreciate Prime Minister Gordon Brown's vision of Britain as "a beacon of innovation and wealth creation," also doubt that the practicalities of having enough materials and skilled workers to complete the various projects has been thought through.

A coal fired power project which promises "near-zero emissions" under way at Hatfield in South Yorkshire will contribute to carbon-saving by using integrated gasification combined cycle technology and carbon capture and storage (CCS). Developed on the site of a former coal mine, Powerfuel Power Limited (Doncaster, U.K.), following an agreement signed in 2007, will use Shell's (NYSE:RDS-A) proprietary gasification technology in the 900-megawatt project. The process fires the coal and turns it into hydrogen-rich synthesis gas (syngas), which will facilitate the separation of carbon dioxide pre-combustion in the turbine generators. In addition to fuelling power production, the hydrogen stream could be used as clean transport fuel and as a substitute for natural gas. For related item see April 20,2007 -- Shell Gasification Technology Licensed for UK Clean Coal Power and CO2 Sequestration Project.

At the end of June, Powerfuel and GE Energy, a division of General Electric (NYSE:GE) , signed a letter of intent for GE to supply gas and steam turbines to provide crucial fuel flexibility to support the clean power targets of the project. With this technology, a wider range of fuel options are available for power generators that are hindered by factors of fuel supply, energy independence and carbon emissions.

The plant will start operating at the end of 2011 and will convert to syngas operation in 2013. This schedule will allow for the phased installation of the combined cycle gas turbine plant and the gasification island. The chosen technology will give Powerfuel the fuel flexibility to respond to policy changes and decisions and to have the plant ready for CCS in 2013, supporting clean coal generation in the U.K.

If projects like Hatfield can overcome what has been seen as the "clean coal" contradiction, many power utilities, now concerned about the future demand for massive additions of base load power, will heave a sigh of relief.

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