Member Article

MPs' Report Boosts Tees Valley Energy Plans

A report from a high-powered committee of MP’s has given a major boost to a new energy technology being pioneered in the Tees Valley.

The report from the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, published this week, strongly supports the development of a new generation of coal-fired power stations using the latest technology to ‘capture’ carbon dioxide, one of the major contributors to global warming.

The first plant of its kind in the UK is to be built in the Tees Valley. Renew Tees Valley Chief Executive Doctor Dermot Roddy said: “The fact that the Science and Technology Committee’s report gives such a strong endorsement of ‘carbon capture’ is extremely encouraging and once again underlines the Tees Valley’s position at the cutting edge of renewable energy developments.

“We have been working on the project with Progressive Energy for the last three years and we expect that a planning application for the plant should be submitted later this year, with electricity generation starting in early 2010.” He added: “What makes this project so important—and so cost-effective—is that, rather than simply storing the carbon dioxide underground it can be put to practical use, as a means of extracting oil and gas which would otherwise be unrecoverable, enabling the UK to remain a major producer many years longer.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .