Chris Huhne MP, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, will be joined by ScottishPower Chief Executive Nick Horler to discuss global developments in Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology at a meeting of the world’s leading industrial nations in Washington today (Tuesday 20th July).

The Clean Energy Ministerial is a new US-led initiative which aims to bring forward transformational activity in clean energy technology.  The Secretary of State will be joined by Mr Horler to discuss the UK’s work to encourage CCS developments at a panel meeting that will also include Ministerial representation from nations such as China, Canada and Germany.

Nick Horler said: “The UK remains at the forefront of encouraging CCS developments and innovation. The Government’s commitment to help fund up to 4 demonstration projects is one of the most ambitious in the world. Policymakers in nearly all industrialised nations recognise that CCS will play a hugely important role in meeting the twin challenges of producing secure supplies of electricity whilst reducing harmful carbon emissions.

“ScottishPower has been operating a successful carbon capture test project at Longannet Power Station for over a year, and we have made a number of major breakthroughs that will be of benefit to the worldwide development of this technology. The meeting in Washington will provide an opportunity for the countries with the highest CO2 emissions from across the world to share knowledge and to discuss cohesive strategies to help reduce carbon output.”

Notes to Editors:

• A ScottishPower led Carbon Capture and Storage Consortium, which also includes Shell and National Grid, has been selected as one of the final bids in the UK Government’s carbon capture and storage competition.
   
• The competition was launched in late 2007 to encourage energy companies to develop commercially viable CCS schemes. There were originally nine entrants. The ScottishPower entry is one of two bids selected by DECC to enter the final stage of the competition before the contract to build the CCS system - which is expected to be awarded in 2011.
   
• Once operational the capture technology will reduce CO2 emissions by 90% from one 300MW unit at ScottishPower’s coal-fired plant. That would be equivalent to taking one million cars off the road.
   
• The ScottishPower Consortium is currently operating a carbon capture prototype at its power station at Longannet in Fife, Scotland. It was installed in May 2009 and has run for over 3000 hours.
   
• ScottishPower is the only energy company in the UK which is capturing carbon on a working coal-fired power station. This programme is helping to prove the chemistry of carbon capture and uses the same technology that can be retrofitted to the tens of thousands of coal-fired power stations worldwide.

Longannet Power Station Facts:

• The station is located on the banks of the Firth of Forth, on 89 hectares of land (or 89,000m2)
   
• First opened in 1969 – it was fully operational from 1973.
   
• It operates four 600-megawatt (MW) turbines, and has a net output of 2,304MW of electricity, which is enough to keep the lights on in 2 million UK homes.
   
• It is the second largest coal power station in the UK, and third largest in Europe.

Media Information: Simon McMillan, 0141 566 4875 / 07753 622 257