Pioneering Coal-Fired and Renewable Power Schemes Come Home Again to Wales

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources Incorporated; Houston, Texas). A new 400 megawatt (MW) power station planned by Valleys Energy at Onllwyn in the Dulais Valley in south Wales, United Kingdom will require 500,000 tons per annum of anthracite. In its projected 20 year lifespan the plant should use close to 10 million tons. Using coal feedstock will earn green accolades by turning the coal into clean hydrogen to drive an advanced generator set. The technology used will also remove pollutants in the process. The company reports that the $530 million integrated gas combined cycle (IGCC) plant will generate electricity more efficiently and more cleanly than a conventional coal-fired power station.

The power station is being designed so that in the future carbon dioxide can be captured for long-term storage. Environmentalists are campaigning for the reduction of CO2 to be an immediate priority. The local Neath Port Talbot council welcomes the prospect of 1,000 new jobs, but is supporting strict environmental controls on the project. The project is scheduled to start construction in 2004 and begin producing electricity in 2007.

South Wales is a net importer of energy. The site at Onllwyn, which is on a former opencast mine site, has been selected for the project because of good rail links for coal deliveries.

In another pioneering Welsh project, a $700 million tidal power station is being planned by Tidal Electric (London, United Kingdom) with backing from local powers and the United Nations. The station, which could be operational by the end of 2003, will be the largest renewable energy scheme in the United Kingdom and the first of its kind in the world.

It will be situated in an artificial, hollow island with an area of 20 square miles, located off Rhyl on the north Wales coast. A smaller sister plant will be in Swansea Bay on the south coast. The circular dam will have a 400 MW capacity, providing nearly 15% of Welsh power demand. The Swansea project outputting 30 MW will supply half that city's electricity needs. Using tidal charts it is possible to predict output from the plants by the day, and by the hour through to 2080. The structures are expected to be in use for 100 years.

Tidal Electric says that, like conventional hydroelectric power programs it will eventually produce electricity at virtually no cost and from the start will be economically competitive with oil and gas generated electricity. Further exploitation of the scheme will be effected when a tram link to the island is built, a marina opened beside it, a fish farm run inside it and a wind farm erected above it that could double generating capacity.

Problems which have inhibited the development of traditional 'barrage type' tidal power schemes have been the blockage of navigation, impedance of fish migration, killing of fish in the tide-driven turbines and alteration of tidal zones. In the Rhyl system these problems are avoided by using a circular barrage or 'impoundment structure' out at sea. The water floods into the hollow island at high tide through the turbines until it is full. The water is retained until low tide and then allowed to flood out through the turbines. Surrounded by open sea the structure does not effect fish, tides, or boat traffic.

Tidal Electric chose Wales for the project because it has a huge tidal range and is also close to a major market, and also the UK tax breaks of renewable energy projects are attractive.

The system off Rhyl will be about nine miles long and two miles wide. 30 million tons of rocks will go into the walls and it will have three compartments so that water release can be staggered, allowing generation to meet peak demand. The plant will also provide a means of coastal defense for Rhyl, which is prone to flooding.

Environmentalist supporters see 20% of the UK's power being generated from this type of plant and although it is still awaiting various final approvals it could help the British government meet its target of 10% renewable sourced energy by 2010 (3 to 4% currently).

The project has undergone thorough reviews at Yale and Emory universities and by engineers at several large power generating equipment manufacturers and by public and private utilities.