The UK government has announced that no new coal-fired power stations can be built without including carbon capture and storage (CCS). However, no date has yet been set for announcing the winner of a competition to prove the technology for public funding. This is likely to delay the first plants with CCS technology.
However, Chris Huhne, energy secretary, said he did not believe there would be an “energy gap” between supply and demand as old power plants were taken out of service. “The lights are not going out on my watch,” he said. He also predicted that we will see the first nuclear power station on track for 2018.
Mr Huhne said that the push for renewable energy, CCS and other low-carbon technologies would not necessarily add to consumers’ energy bills. If the oil price rose from its current spot price of about $80 to more than $100, then consumers would save money as a result of the government’s policies, he said.