Greentech Lead Europe: Scotland plans to use carbon
capture and storage (CCS) technology in all its existing coal-fired power
plants by 2025 and needs new coal stations to be fully equipped with CCS from
the turn of the decade.
CCS is an important technology to help reduce carbon
emissions from thermal power plants to achieve legally binding climate change targets.
Currently, all coal-fired power plants built in Scotland
have to be equipped with CCS technology on at least 300 MW of installed
capacity, while gas and oil-fired plants have to be ready to fit CCS equipment
in future.
“A rolling review of the technical and economic viability
of CCS will take place by 2018, looking specifically at retro-fitting CCS to
existing coal plants, with the likelihood of having existing plants
retro-fitted by no later than 2025,” the government said in a report about the future
of Scotland’s electricity generation.
According to Reuters.com, the Scottish government
estimates that the successful demonstration of CCS in Scotland will create up
to 5,000 jobs and be worth $5.6 billion to the Scottish economy.
“We know our target is technically achievable.
Scotland already leads the world in renewable energy, and we have the natural
resources and the expertise to achieve so much more,” said Scottish Energy
Minister Fergus Ewing.
Scotland plans to produce enough power from renewable
energy sources to cover 100 percent of gross consumption by 2020 was possible,
with 14-16 GW of green energy capacity needed.
UK government plans to financially support a CCS project
at Longannet in Scotland fell through in October when the developer and the
state could not agree on the funding required.
The UK energy ministry will launch a new CCS tender for
up to 1 billion pounds of funding shortly, while the European Commission is
running a parallel EU-wide funding program for CCS and renewable energy projects.