Pembroke power station efficiency claim disputed

21 February 2011

A claim that the controversial gas-fired power station being built at Pembroke will be the most efficient in Europe has been contested by an environmental group.

The company building the power station, RWEnpower, is quoted making the claim on the BBC Wales News website [1] but Friends of the Earth Cymru state that the new gas-fired power station built at the Isle of Grain in Kent is much more efficient because it uses the waste heat productively [2].

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

"The claim that the new Pembroke power station would be the most efficient gas-fired power station in Europe is incorrect. Pembroke power station is expected to achieve an efficiency of around 58% while a comparable power station at the Isle of Grain in Kent will achieve an efficiency of around 73%.

"The reason for this is that the Kent power station will use the waste heat to re-gasify LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) that is imported in tankers from the Middle East. At Pembroke, it is planned to dump this waste heat into the very important Pembrokeshire Marine Special Area of Conservation posing a threat to marine life. In energy terms, the waste heat is equivalent to 40 per cent of Wales' electricity demand [3].

"We have argued from the outset that the waste heat from power stations burning LNG on the shores of the Milford Haven should be used productively to re-gasify the imported LNG. If this had been done at Pembroke it then really could have claimed to be one of the most efficient in Europe. It would also have posed far less of a threat to Pembrokeshire's very important marine environment.

"By using the best technology, industry can co-exist with Pembrokeshire's high quality natural environment."

NOTES

1. BBC News Online - A spokesperson for RWE npower said: "This will be the most efficient gas-fired power station in Europe."
2. Isle of Grain Combined Heat and Power, Kent
3. Sustainable Heat Around Milford Haven by Friends of the Earth Cymru

For further information, please contact Friends of the Earth Cymru on 029 2022 9577