Facts:

Ayrshire Power Limited (APL) is awaiting consent from the Scottish Government to build and operate a new 1600 MW multi-fuel power station at Hunterston, in North Ayrshire. It plans to build the plant on a site between the existing Clydeport coal-handling facility and Hunterston B nuclear power station.

As of early January 2012, the project was about to go to a second public inquiry. At the same time, the operator of the nearby Hunterston nuclear plant raised safety concerns about the siting of the new power station.

In December 2010, APL announced the formation of a consortium of key CCS players to develop the capture and storage elements of the project. This group comprises Doosan Power Systems, Fluor Limited and Petrofac. Doosan will design, build and commission the carbon capture plant, while Fluor will focus on engineering services for the CO2 pipeline. Petrofac, through its CCS subsidiary CO2DeepStore, will develop CO2 storage concepts in the East Irish Sea (see Storage below).

The power station, which has been designed by DONG Energy, would burn both coal and biomass to produce up to 1852 MW of electricity. APL proposes to include commercial-scale demonstration CCS technology, which would remove about 25% of CO2 emissions from the start of operations. The company has committed to installing full CCS within five years - with 90% capture capacity - if the technology is proven to be technically and commercially viable.

The current plans deal only with onsite carbon capture infrastructure, with the remaining offshore elements of the chain – transportation and storage – to be covered by future applications.

The development includes two operating power units of 926MW capacity each, and a demonstration carbon capture unit with associated gas transfer plant. Coal and biomass supplies would be delivered to the Clydeport coal-handling facility, and by-products would be removed from the site using existing rail networks. The coal would be sourced from a variety of locations including South Africa, Columbia, Russia and the US.

Design

The plant will have two power island units, each with a maximum 926 MW gross output, and a supercritical boiler and steam turbine. The site includes space for developing full CCS, if its viability is demonstrated.

APL plans to use a DeNOx plant to capture nitrous dioxides from flue gases, and a desulphurisation plant to capture sulphur dioxide, with the same technology being used for post-combustion CO2 capture. At the start of operations, the company expects to capture CO2 from flue gases equivalent to 400MW of gross power generation.

Financing

Peel and its partners Doosan Power Systems, Fluor Ltd and offshore infrastructure and storage operator CO2DeepStore submitted a bid through the UK government to the European Union's NER 300 fund in May 2011. Read ZERO's news article. Peel has also stated its intention to enter the next round of the UK's CCS Demonstration funding.

Timing

Ayrshire Power submitted its planning application for the multi-fuel plant to the Scottish Government on 2 June 2010. A formal public consultation was conducted in 2010, and the project continues to consult with stakeholders over environmental and other issues.

The development is estimated to take up to four years to build and a further two years to commission. Subject to the granting of all relevant consents and licences, the earliest date expected for starting construction is 2012, with commissioning of the first power island unit by early 2017.

More information and press releases

Department of Energy press release, 10 May 2011

APL announcement of NER 300 funding bid, 9 February, 2011

APL announces CCS consortium, 15 December, 2010

Link to non-technical summary of environmental statement

Link to news section of APL website, giving up-to-date press releases

Link to BBC news story on 2 June 2010

Contact info

Email ayrshirepower@peel.co.uk or call The BIG Partnership on 44-141 333 9585

Storage:

In March 2011, a CO2 storage study by Eunomia - commissioned by the Hunterston project partners - identified depleted gas fields below the East Irish Sea, which could potentially be used to store decades of CO2 emissions from the UK and Ireland, including from the new Hunterston power plant.

Carbon Capture article on storage site study, 1 March 2011

Companies involved

News about Hunterston