Nick Horler, ScottishPower Chief Executive, said: “We welcome the further commitment outlined today in the Queen’s Speech to support the development of Carbon Capture and Storage technology. The Government has clearly shown that it has the desire for the UK to lead the world in this area.

“The framework for the development of clean coal, including the funding mechanism in the form of the CCS Incentive, is a significant step towards creating a decarbonised electricity sector.

“There is also clear recognition that the massive economic and environmental potential of this revolutionary technology will only be fully realised if we prove CCS at a commercial scale as quickly as possible.

“The UK Government’s competition to develop a commercial scale CCS project is the largest and most ambitious of its kind anywhere in the world and the ScottishPower Consortium is ready to meet this challenge, and help establish the UK as a world leader, by demonstrating CCS at a commercial scale at Longannet from 2014."

Notes to editors:

• ScottishPower is one of the two remaining participants in the UK Government’s competition to develop a commercial scale Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) project.
• To enable CCS to be delivered quickly it has formed a consortium with Aker Clean Carbon, Shell and National Grid.
• The competition was launched in late 2007 to encourage energy companies to develop commercially viable CCS schemes. There were originally nine entrants.
• 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 2000 hours.
• It 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.

Media Information – Simon McMillan 0141 566 4875 / 07753 622 257