E.ON, one of the country's leading power generators, has announced that it will be one of the entrants to the Government's carbon capture and storage (CCS) competition.

The company's entry into the competition is based on its proposed Kingsnorth coal-fired project in Kent, which it plans to build CCS-ready in anticipation of this technology being successfully developed.

E.ON is also proposing that a decision on its Kingsnorth planning application is not made until later in the year, following completion of the Government's consultation into what will be required to make a coal-fired power station CCS-ready.

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Dr Paul Golby, Chief Executive of E.ON UK, said: "Decarbonising fossil fuels - and especially coal - is one of the key challenges to be overcome if we are to combat climate change and we aim to be right at the centre of the debate. That is why we have consistently supported the Government's competition and that is why we have entered Kingsnorth.

"By making it clear we will use our proposed Kingsnorth site to develop CCS technology, we are addressing one of the fundamental issues in the whole debate: how can we demonstrate that carbon capture works on a commercial scale unless we first build a station which is CCS-ready and then fit the technology to that station? Moreover, how can we expect other nations such as China or India to adopt carbon capture technology unless we can demonstrate that it can be retrofitted?

"That is also why we are also proposing to Government that the Kingsnorth planning decision is made following their consultation process, when we will all know exactly what is required by the Government for a station to be deemed CCS-ready. Once the Government's consultation process is complete and its results published, we can move forward accordingly."

(CD/JM)