New Uskmouth power station 'yesterday's technology'

9 February 2011

09 Chewfror 2011

The new gas-fired Uskmouth power station, which is being officially inaugurated tomorrow (10th February), has been described as 'yesterday's technology' by a leading environmental organisation.

Friends of the Earth Cymru say the power station is too wasteful of energy and falls short of what is needed to tackle climate change and improve energy security. The group have argued that it should have been a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) system that would have piped waste heat to tens of thousands of homes and to businesses in Newport.

The Director of Friends of the Earth Cymru, Gordon James, said:

"The new 800 MW gas-fired Uskmouth power station is far too wasteful of energy. In this age of climate change and rising fuel prices it can only be considered as yesterday's technology.

"The power station, which will waste around a third of the gas it uses, ought to have used the much more efficient Combined Heat and Power system. This could have piped the waste heat from the power station to warm tens of thousands of homes in Newport, creating a lot more jobs, cutting carbon dioxide emissions and enhancing energy security in the process.

"It would have also provided a great opportunity to place Newport on the world map of cities taking a lead role in tackling climate change and developing the green economy."

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