Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad. (Eggborough to be closed)

Just seen on the news, Eggborough power station (2000 MW of generating capacity) is likely to be closed because the government has decided to ration the grants that would make Biomass fuel practicable to burn. As a result a Mexican Stand-Off has arisen between the government and the owners. As if generating capacity wasn't in short enough supply as it is.

Total 'Rome Burning' madness.

DerekG

Reply to
Derek
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On Monday 16 December 2013 14:42 Derek wrote in uk.d-i-y:

Maybe they are trying to cause a blackout so that the nimbys stop whining about new nuclear stations.

Reply to
Tim Watts

eggborough is a coal plant with a little biomass tipped in the furnace.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

Big one too.

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Reply to
harryagain

It is. The ball breaker is the proposed (EU) levy on burning coal and the disinclination of the Cameron government to guarantee the grants needed to convert stations to burn biomass both entities preferring to subsidise windmills.

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(= ft.com)

DerekG

Reply to
Derek

In message , Derek writes

= paywall

Reply to
Nick

Fears grow for N Yorks coal-fired power plant

By Guy Chazan

Eggborough power station, which supplies 4 per cent of the UK?s electricity, could be forced to close in the coming years after a government decision to ration subsidies for renewable power.

The coal-fired plant, in North Yorkshire, has a £750m programme to convert to biomass, which was due to get under way in January. Unless the switch goes ahead, it will be hit by rising carbon taxes and EU environmental legislation, and could become uneconomic to run.

But the conversion scheme is heavily reliant on Eggborough qualifying for an early renewable subsidy. That now seems unlikely, after the government made clear that it was prioritising offshore wind over coal-to-biomass conversion and putting an annual cap on the value of the early subsidies.

Officials have decided to divide all the projects that have applied for the subsidies into groups according to their technology, and give them a ranking based on criteria such as affordability. Because there are two big projects in the biomass group, only one of them is expected to qualify. Developers will be told next week what their ranking is and whether they will receive a subsidy.

A DECC spokesperson said: ?We cannot comment on [the projects?] score and affordability at the current time.?

Neil O?Hara, Eggborough?s chief executive, said a failure to secure early government backing could jeopardise the plant?s future. ?Given where the current commodity price curves, carbon taxes and EU emissions laws are, it will be difficult to make the economics work far beyond 2015,? he said.

The early subsidies are meant to bridge the gap until the government?s new system of support for renewable energy, known as contracts for difference, comes into force at the end of next year.

Mr O?Hara said the closure of Eggborough could undermine Britain?s energy security, at a time when officials have been warning that spare capacity in the system will fall to dangerously low levels in coming years.

He said a shutdown would add £38 to the average household bill: £25 of that would be the impact of higher wholesale electricity prices as a result of strains on the system, and £13 would stem from the decision to subsidise expensive offshore wind rather than biomass, which he claimed was a much cheaper alternative.

Reply to
The Other Mike

Totally silly. I'd imagine there might be some legal redress here also, given why it was built in the first place. Brian

Reply to
Brian Gaff

"New energy reforms to support 250,000 jobs, keep bills down and produce cleaner energy"

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But not at Eggborough

Reply to
The Other Mike

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