Minister urged to act on "wasteful and damaging" power station proposal

The Welsh Minister for the environment and energy matters, Jane Davidson, has been urged to oppose the "wasteful and damaging" LNG power station proposed at Pembroke and instead to back efficient power stations that use both electricity and heat.

Friends of the Earth Cymru has written to the Minister arguing that the LNG power station proposed for Pembroke would be inefficient, emit too much carbon dioxide and discharge excessive amounts of warm water into the Haven. The group say that all of these problems could be overcome by using combined heat and power (CHP) stations, which are widely used on the continent.

The Welsh Assembly Government's own advisors on the environment, the Countryside Council for Wales (CCW), have also objected to the power station proposal. Last Friday (April 25th), CCW wrote a formal letter of objection to the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (DBERR), stating that the discharge of warm waters to the Milford Haven waterway would harm an important marine ecosystem.

Friends of the Earth Cymru stated that this problem would be averted by using the waste heat in CHP power stations sited close to industrial locations, such as the two oil refineries and the two LNG terminals.

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

"The scientific evidence of climate change is increasingly worrying. It is clear that its impacts are occurring sooner and are more severe than anticipated. If we are to prevent catastrophic consequences we have to use energy as efficiently as possible.

"We have estimated that over half of the energy content of the gas extracted in the Middle East would be wasted by turning it into electricity at the proposed Pembroke power station. The heat wasted at the power station would be equivalent to over half the electricity demand in Wales.

"Yet much of this waste heat could be used locally in the two LNG terminals to re-gasify the LNG from the tankers and to supply heat to the two oil refineries. These combined heat and power (CHP) systems are quite normal practice in countries such as Denmark.

"Using CHP would solve the problem of waste heat being discharged into the Milford Haven waterway, which the Countryside Council for Wales believes would have such an adverse impact on the important marine ecosystem that it has formally objected to the power station proposal. This is an extremely significant objection that casts considerable doubt on the future of the power station.

"The power station would emit almost six million tonnes a year of carbon dioxide, the main climate-changing gas. CHP systems would emit significantly less per unit of energy used.

"Power stations are the largest single source of carbon dioxide emissions in Wales, and emissions from this sector have risen by a quarter since 1990. We are heading in totally the wrong direction by increasing these emissions when every effort should be made to reduce them.

"Although the Welsh Assembly Government does not have the power to decide on power stations over 50MW, we are urging the Minister to use her influence to ensure that the only LNG power stations permitted on the shores of Milford Haven are efficient CHP ones that use both electricity and heat. We believe that strong representation from the Welsh Assembly Government ought to be taken seriously at Westminster.

"We are also urging both of Pembrokeshire's MPs, Nick Ainger and Stephen Crabb, to reject the present proposal to use LNG at Pembroke and instead to back efficient CHP systems."

Friends of the Earth Cymru has also written to the Conservative Party leader at the Welsh Assembly, Nick Bourne, asking him to reject the present proposal and to support CHP. The Conservative Party's environment spokesperson, Peter Ainsworth MP, confirmed at last year's Conservative Party conference that they would introduce a levy on waste heat from power stations in order to encourage the use of CHP.

Letter to Jane Davidson AM

Dear Minister,

We are very concerned about the proposal to build a 2000MW LNG-fired power station at Pembroke because it would be wasteful of energy, emit excessive amounts of carbon dioxide, and discharge harmful quantities of heat into the Milford Haven waterway.

We believe that the present proposal should be rejected in favour of smaller CHP (combined heat and power) systems cited close to where the waste heat would be used. On the shores of the Milford Haven waterway, there is a significant demand for heat at the two oil refineries and both LNG terminals.

The Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, and most world leaders now recognise the threat posed by climate change. Yet, although awareness is increasing, effective action is not being taken and global emissions of carbon dioxide are rising at an ever increasing rate [1].

Lord Stern, the author of the influential report into the economic aspects of climate change, recently warned that the situation is far worse than he anticipated 18 months ago [2]. His views are supported by scientific evidence. Recent research produced by Exeter University, for instance, has concluded that the impact of climate change will be around 50 per cent worse than anticipated because natural systems will emit far more carbon dioxide as temperatures rise [3]. Similarly, one of the world's top climate scientists, James Hanson of NASA, has warned that, if we continue to emit carbon dioxide at current rates, global sea level could rise by 5 meters by the end of the century [4]. This would obviously have serious implications for Wales.

This is an extremely worrying situation that poses a major threat to the future of our children. In response, we should, at the very least, be using our energy resources in the most efficient way possible in order to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide. Efficiency improvements would also enhance the security of energy supply at a time of diminishing resources and rising costs.

Yet, the proposed Pembroke power station would waste overall almost 60 per cent of the energy content of the natural gas. It is estimated that around 25 per cent of the energy content of the fuel would be lost in the process of extracting it in the Middle East and then liquefying, transporting and re-gasifying it before it would enter the power station at Pembroke [5]. This is expected to operate at 56 per cent efficiency, giving an overall efficiency of just 41 per cent.

We have estimated that the waste heat produced from the power station would be equivalent to half of Wales' annual electricity consumption [6]. Most of this could be productively used in CHP power stations sited close to the four main industrial locations - the two oil refineries and LNG terminals - on the shores of the Haven.
CHP is fairly common practice in countries such as Denmark. They have, for instance, developed a coal-fired CHP power station that operates at 93% efficiency. Similarly, the London Development Agency has recently announced plans to use the waste heat from Barking power station. This will heat 120,000 properties and cut CO2 emissions by 96,000 tonnes a year.

At Pembroke, however, most of the waste heat would be dumped into the Haven, which has been designated a Special Area of Conservation in order to protect its important ecosystem. You are no doubt aware that the Countryside Council for Wales has recently formally objected to the Pembroke power station proposal because they believe the waste heat discharged to the Haven would have an adverse impact on ecosystems in the Pembrokeshire Marine SAC and the Milford Haven Waterway SSSI. The use of CHP would avert this threat.
It is estimated that the Pembroke power station would emit almost 6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year [7]. Although it is claimed that this would enable the closure of a dirtier power station elsewhere, emissions would be significantly higher per unit of energy generated than in CHP units. With climate change posing such a major threat, we surely have an obligation to reduce these emissions wherever possible and particularly where technologies exist to allow this to happen.

It should also be borne in mind that electricity generation is the largest single source of carbon dioxide emissions in Wales and that these have increased from this sector by a quarter since 19908. If current proposals, such as at Pembroke, Uskmouth and Aberthaw, are allowed to go ahead, climate changing emissions from power stations in Wales will increase substantially in the near future. Just as evidence of the severity of climate change mounts, Wales will be heading completely in the wrong direction. This expansion in fossil-fuelled power generation would also be at odds with the commendable aim, as outlined in the draft Renewable Energy Route Map, to generate all of Wales' electricity from renewable sources by 2025.

We urge you to oppose this application, for the reasons outlined above, and to use your influence to ensure that the only LNG power stations permitted on the shores of Milford Haven are the efficient CHP ones that use both electricity and heat. Although the Welsh Assembly Government does not yet have the power to decide on power stations over 50MW, we believe that strong representation from the Welsh Assembly Government ought to be taken seriously at Westminster.

Yours sincerely

Gordon James
Director, Friends of the Earth Cymru

References

1. The BBC News Science website reported last week (April 24th) that the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration in the USA has shown that carbon dioxide concentrations rose by 2.4 parts per million (ppm) between 2006 and 2007. By comparison, the average annual increase between 1979 and 2007 was 1.65ppm
2. The Independent Business section April 17th 2008
3. New Scientist, page 11, March 22nd 2008
4. New Scientist, page 32, July 28th 2007
5. Information provided by independent energy consultant
6. See attached FoE Cymru paper, 'Sustainable Heat Around Milford Haven'
7. RWE npower Environment Report for Pembroke power station, page 56, section 5.3
8. DEFRA's Greenhouse Gas Inventories for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland: 1990 - 2005