07/07/2010
Electricity producers content with the approved Industrial Emissions Directive
In response to today’s (7 July) vote on the Industrial Emissions Directive by the European Parliament, David Porter, Chief Executive of the Association of Electricity Producers, welcomed the final decision;
‘Electricity producers in the UK will be satisfied with the outcome of the debate about the Industrial Emissions Directive. The original proposals would in practice have forced up to one quarter of the UK’s generating capacity to close by 2016, requiring a huge and costly construction programme to replace this plant in order to keep the lights on. The flexibility mechanisms now included in the Directive, the transitional national plan[1] and 17,500-hour derogation[2] will allow the UK’s older coal and gas plant to be upgraded or retired on a more sensible timescale. Environmental emissions will also be reduced because the running of the plants in question will be restricted.
Electricity generation in the UK faces the threefold challenge of maintaining secure electricity supplies and making the transition to a low carbon economy while ensuring competitive prices for the consumer. A solution to these sometimes conflicting objectives cannot be reached overnight. The timeframes agreed in the IED will go some of the way towards ensuring a measured transition to a low carbon future for the UK, with a mix of technologies for producing electricity.
Some £120 billion investment in electricity generation is needed over the next fifteen years and today’s vote gives further clarity to the companies needing to take these investment decisions. The UK government must now make sure that national energy policy takes into account the IED, and provides a transparent and consistent policy framework which allows prompt implementation of the Directive.’
ENDS
[1] The Directive will offer a Transitional National Plan for opted in power stations. These power stations will have until July 2020 to meet the emissions limits.
[2] The IED introduces a limited hours opt-out which provides a maximum number of hours (17,500) for power stations to operate before plant closure, within a fixed period.
Contact:
Rachel Hunter, Communications Executive, 0207 930 9390
Notes to Editors:
The Association of Electricity Producers is the UK’s trade association for companies that make electricity. It contributes to the work of many of the industry’s internal decision making bodies and it also lobbies in the areas where legislation and regulation affect its members’ interests – ‘where public policy meets the market.’ The members of the Association include all of the largest generating companies, most of the medium sized companies and many small generating businesses. Between them, the members embrace virtually all of the generating fuels and technologies used commercially in the UK – from coal, oil, gas and nuclear power to wind, wave, hydro and biomass.