'Green' coal holds key to power station's fate

Published on Sunday 8 August 2004 02:23

IN A bid to save the planet we have experimented with wind farms and wave generators, and dreamed of fusion reactors. But the latest environmental wheeze from the government is... burning coal.

Officials at Chapelcross nuclear power station, near Annan in Dumfries and Galloway, are holding talks with power firm Scottish Coal to convert part of the plant, which goes offline next year.

The new form of power supply, known as biomass, involves burning coal with wood, hay or other crops. The mixture produces significant amounts of energy without the same huge levels of harmful emissions, particularly as it is planned to use ‘green’ coal from Ayrshire, which has considerably less sulphur than other types.

The hybrid power station is being seen as a possible alternative to the increasingly unpopular wind farms.

British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL) has been looking to sell parts of its estate and equipment, while Scottish Coal is eager to find new and environmentally more friendly uses for its product.

Because BNFL is state-owned and overseen by the Department of Trade and Industry, government officials are involved in the discussions and will have to approve the conversion.

Chapelcross was the first nuclear power station to be built in Scotland. Operational since 1959, it is about to be decommissioned and its estate sold off to various businesses.

It is hoped that much of the engineering equipment can be used in a new plant being proposed by Scottish Coal.

Local MP Russell Brown has written to Secretary of State for Trade and Industry Patricia Hewitt to sell the conversion scheme to the government.

He said:

"A lot of people from the area will have the skills to operate the facility and could make a big contribution to Scotland’s future energy needs."