Britain warned about its coal strategy

By KRISTY DORSEY
Published on 03/12/2012 00:00

BRITAIN risks running low on power within a decade unless the UK government spells out the role for coal during the transition to greener energy supplies, a Scottish fuel merchant has warned.

John Campbell, director of Falkirk-based Fergusson Group, said the lack of a coherent strategy for coal had dented investor confidence in a fuel that continues to generate 40 per cent of the UK’s electricity.

“Coal producers and suppliers want to continue to invest to contribute to delivering affordable and secure energy supplies and maintain valuable employment,” he said. “However, we need a coal strategy to ensure that UK capacity is at least maintained as part of our future energy portfolio, with investment in progressive efficiency increases and deployment of carbon capture and storage technologies – which will also require coal.

“Without this, the risk facing the UK is that there will be no substantial coal generation within a decade, bringing the risk of security of supply issues,
as well as much larger bills for
consumers.”