Experts back green criticisms of Pembroke power station

8 May 2009

On the day that work begins on the new "wasteful" Pembroke power station, Friends of the Earth Cymru has revealed that consultants acting for the Government are calling for waste heat from power stations to be used for homes and industry [1].

Friends of the Earth Cymru has long criticised the Pembroke proposal because it would dump enough heat to warm 350,000 homes into the protected Milford Haven waterway. The group has argued that the LNG ought to be burned in smaller Combined Heat and Power (CHP) power stations where the waste heat could be used by local oil refineries and LNG terminals. [2]

Director of Friends of the Earth Cymru Gordon James said: "Experts appointed by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) have backed our argument that waste heat from power stations should be used productively.

"The new Pembroke power station will dump enough heat to warm 350,000 homes into the Milford Haven waterway threatening wildlife in this Special Area of Conservation. This heat could and should have been used in the two oil refineries and to re-gasify the LNG at the terminals by building smaller combined heat and power (CHP) power stations close to these industrial processes.

"The consultants' report points out that CHP is one of the most cost-effective ways of reducing the emissions that are causing climate change as well as providing heat to industry and homes. In Denmark, 60 per cent of heat is obtained this way compared to just two per cent in the UK. We have also known for some time that CHP power stations create more jobs per unit of electricity generated than do large power stations.

"The DECC has published this report just a couple of months after it gave the go-ahead to the wasteful Pembroke power station. We urge it to put into practice the report's recommendations to ensure that opportunities for using waste heat, cutting climate changing emissions, protecting the environment and creating more jobs are not wasted in the future."

NOTES

1."The Potential and Cost of District Heating Networks" - A report to the Department of Energy and Climate Change by Poyry Energy Consulting, Oxford

This is summarised below in the Environmental Data Services (ENDS) Report of 7^th May 2009.

ENDS Report

May 7^th 2009

DECC report urges action on district heating

The government should act to encourage development of district heating networks - including the establishment of zones in cities where connection is mandatory.

The call is made in a report by consultancies Pöyry and Faber Maunsell issued on Tuesday. It was commissioned by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC).

District heating - where heat is produced centrally and hot water piped to businesses and homes - provides less than 2% of UK heat demand. This compares to 18% in Austria, 49% in Finland and 60% in Denmark.

The main barrier to expansion is cost - at least £100 per megawatt hour for a community level scheme. The current cost of gas and electric heating is around £70/MWh.

Unless there is a shift in these costs or the regulatory environment it will only be economic to connect 70,000 extra homes to district heating networks, the report says.

It recommends the government intervene as district heating is "the preferred option for achieving carbon reduction in built up areas". If a scheme was powered by waste heat from a power station, it would save carbon dioxide at a cost of £50 per tonne. This compares to over £150/t for solar thermal units and over £500/t for ground source heat pumps.

Government should lower the risk of projects by guaranteeing heat loads in social housing, the report says. It could also adjust building regulations to require developers to consider district heating, place a mandate on councils to develop networks or define zones in cities where connection is mandatory. It should provide grants or subsidies to developers.

Such policies could make it economic to connect 1.4 million homes and 17 million square meters of commercial space to district heating networks - equivalent to 2% of UK heat demand.

2. http://www.foe.co.uk/cymru/english/press_releases/18226.html