Kingsnorth power station

From SourceWatch
Revision as of 05:03, 24 October 2012 by Bob Burton (talk | contribs) (add sat image)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

{{#badges: CoalSwarm|Navbar-UnitedKingdomandcoal}}Kingsnorth Power Station is an existing four x 485 megawatt unit power station with an installed capacity of 1940 megawatts located on the Medway Estuary in Kent. It is owned and operated by E.ON UK. (For details of E.ON's now cancelled proposal for a 1600 megawatt supercritical coal power station at the site of the existing plant, please see Kingsnorth Power Station (Proposed).)

Background

Each of its four main units, which were constructed between 1963 and 1973[1] [2], can be fired with either coal or oil.

As a result of the European Union Large Combustion Plant Directive the four existing units of this power station will be closed. However, under the directive legislation Units 1 to 4 can operate for a maximum of 20,000 hours from January 2008 and, at the latest, must be shut down by 2015. E.ON UK propose that the existing units would only be shut down after the commissioning of two new 800 megawatt 'supercritical' coal-fired units.[3] The station's closure is planned for March 2013.[4]

Activist shuts down Kingsnorth Power Station

On November 28, 2008, in full view of security cameras, a single activist climbed two 10-foot, razor-wired and electrified security fences at E.ON's coal-fired power plant and crashed a huge 500MW turbine, leaving behind a banner that read "no new coal." All power from the plant was down for four hours, which cut the UK's CO2 emissions by an estimated 2 percent. Police are still searching for the activist.[5]

10 activists board ship delivering coal to Kingsnorth Station

On June 21, 2009, ten Greenpeace activists boarded a ship delivering coal to the Kingsnorth Power Station. The group used inflatable speedboats to target the boat as it sailed up the River Medway in Kent. All 10 protesters were arrested and charged with conspiring to commit criminal damage and having an unauthorized presence on a ship.[6]

E.ON's In-House Media Managers

Citizens Groups Campaigning on Kingsnorth

Articles and Resources

Sources

  1. E.ON, "Kingsnorth", E.ON website, accessed June 2008.
  2. Power Technology, "Proposed Replacement Coal-fired Units for Kingsnorth Power Station: Environmental Statement", E.ON UK, page 222.
  3. Power Technology, "Proposed Replacement Coal-fired Units for Kingsnorth Power Station: Environmental Statement", E.ON UK, page 24.
  4. "German utility to close 2 highly polluting power plants in U.K.," Reuters, Sep. 18, 2012.
  5. "No new coal - the calling card of the 'green Banksy' who breached fortress Kingsnorth," The Guardian, December 11, 2008.
  6. "Protesters leave coal cargo ship," BBC News, June 22, 2009.

Related SourceWatch articles

External links

General Articles

2007
2008

/www.kentnews.co.uk/kent-news/Activists-vow-to-shut-Kingsnorth-during-protest-newsinkent13875.aspx "Activists vow to shut Kingsnorth during protest"], KentNews.Co.uk, June 18, 2008.