17 May 2007 00:00
E.ON UK launches community investment fund to celebrate start of work at new gas-fired power station in Kent

E.ON UK, the company behind Kingsnorth and Grain power stations, has launched a community investment fund to celebrate the start of work at the new gas-fired combined heat and power (CHP) station on the Isle of Grain.

Speaking today (MAY 17) at a special ceremony to mark the start of work at the power station, E.ON Managing Director Dr Tony Cocker announced a total fund of £100,000 to be made available to local community projects on the Hoo Peninsula.

“Our ambition is for the money to be used to support projects in the locality that will leave a lasting legacy and further the relationship between E.ON and our neighbours,” said Dr Cocker.

The E.ON Community Investment Fund is part of the company’s commitment to investing in communities near its sites and is designed to support effective projects that will help genuine community needs.

Billie Holland, Community Relations Executive at E.ON, said: “Anyone who lives on the Hoo Peninsula and who has a community project in mind can apply for funding.
“It could be anything from building a local football pitch to putting in disabled ramps at community centres or improving playgrounds for children or funding an allotment.

“However big or small the project, it will be considered.”

The new CHP station at Grain will be the largest and most efficient station of its kind in the UK. It will generate enough electricity for around one million homes and also displace the emission of up to 350,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide every year, equivalent to taking around 100,000 cars off the UK’s roads.

Dr Cocker said: “Today is a very important day for us at E.ON as we mark the start of construction of our new gas-fired combined heat and power station. It represents further evidence of our commitment to the UK market and to exploring new and innovative ways of supplying energy to our customers.”

Ends

Notes to Editors:
• The total fund of £100,000 will be available to projects over the four-year construction period at Grain;
• The fund will be in the form of a grant administered by Action with Communities in Rural Kent;
• Awards will be made by a Local Liaison Committee (LLC) including representatives from the local parish councils and members of E.ON’s project teams at Kingsnorth and Grain power stations.

For more information and photographs contact:
Emily Highmore on 024 7618 3680 or 07921 944 680