Government pledges GBP6m to CO2-capture plant

The GBP20m project will involve the building and demonstration of Europe's largest post-combustion carbon dioxide-capture pilot plant.

Two power-plant operators, SSE (Scottish and Southern Energy) and Vattenfall of Sweden, are partnering with Doosan Babcock, a UK-based developer and supplier of power-plant equipment and carbon-capture technologies to develop this facility.

In addition, three UK universities, all leaders in the training of researchers in this sector, will take part in the project, which is being co-funded by the Technology Strategy Board, the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Northern Way partnership.

The project will see the carbon dioxide-capture technology installed at SSE's Ferrybridge Power Station in Yorkshire.

Following a one-year construction-and-commissioning phase, a two-year research-and-test programme will take place from early in 2011, demonstrating Doosan Babcock's CO2-capture technologies.

In addition to the industrial research and development focus, university researchers will participate in the project to gain operational experience, carry out complementary research and help to build the UK's skills capacity.

Explaining the purpose of the Technology Strategy Board's support, its chief executive, Iain Gray, said: 'Working in partnership with DECC and the Northern Way, we hope to put the UK in a position to take advantage of the growing global market for carbon-dioxide capture and storage technology.

'If the UK is to lead in the supply of such technology, it needs to be developed, installed and demonstrated here on a significant scale.

'This project provides a vital link between research and commercialisation for an important technology that can be both installed at new coal-and-gas power plants and retrofitted to existing plants,' he added.