Spain’s Iberdrola and its subsidiary ScottishPower have been praised by the UK government for launching a carbon capture test facility at the Longannet power station in Scotland.
The facility is the first in the UK to capture carbon dioxide from a working coal fired plant and its start-up was lauded as a major step forward in the development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.
The test unit will process 1000 m3/h of exhaust gas from the Longannet power station and ScottishPower is planning to carry out a number of tests to determine the effectiveness of the technology. The firm says that the tests will enable it to better understand the technology in advance of construction of a full-scale demonstration project.
Iberdrola has also announced plans to establish a global Centre of Excellence in the UK as part of its strategy to develop CCS technology.
UK Prme Minister Gordon Brown said that the start-up of the Longannet project was a “historic day for the company and for the country,” adding that the project “represents a significant response by ScottishPower to the climate change agenda, and it is one I welcome.”
“For our part, the government is fully committed to both securing Britain’s energy future and to meeting our carbon emissions target, and I hope that the research emerging from the … project will make a major contribution to achieving our shared aims.”
ScottishPower has been shortlisted by the UK government in a tender to win financial support for the construction of a commercial CCS demonstration. The utility is hoping to build a facility that will capture up to 90 per cent of CO2 from the Longannet plant.
The government is currently evaluating three bids in its CCS competition – ScottishPower, RWE and E.On – and is planning to announce the winning bidder in September 2009.
