30 July 2008 12:53
E.ON condemns Climate Camp video footage

Graham Clarke, Head of Business Resilience, said: "We have said all along that we respect the Camp's right to protest but the scenes depicted in this video are completely unacceptable.

"The behaviour that the organisers of this event appear to condone completely contradicts their assurances that the event is a family-friendly affair and will cause minimal disruption to the local community."

The footage, which can be seen at www.climatecamp.org.uk/massaction-green, shows mass assaults by protestors armed with bolt cutters. There are also scenes of protestors marching through farmland, battling with police, brandishing flares and tearing down fences.

"If this is the way that Climate Camp wants its activists to behave then they are showing a blatant disregard for their own safety and that of others," Graham added.

The power station team has urged the protestors to keep out of the power station in order to protect over 300 men and women who work at Kingsnorth. The company is also concerned about intruders who may be set to attempt to shut the plant down.

Kingsnorth power station produces enough power to supply the needs of over 1.5 million families and businesses across Kent and the south east of England. 

Ends

Notes to editors:

• E.ON is currently building one of the world's most efficient gas-fired power stations at the Isle of Grain and plans to build the UK's most efficient coal-fired power station next to its existing Kingsnorth plant;
• The proposed new Kingsnorth plant is also one of just four shortlisted for the Government's carbon capture and storage competition;
• E.ON is one of the UK's leading power and gas companies - generating and distributing electricity, and retailing power and gas - and is part of the E.ON group, the world's largest investor-owned power and gas company. We employ around 17,000 people in the UK;
• Our retail business is a leading energy supplier in the UK, with around 8 million electricity and gas customer accounts for homes and businesses;
• We're one of the leading green generators in the UK, with 21 wind farms located from Cornwall to Northern Ireland. Combined, our renewable portfolio generates enough green energy to power the homes in a city the size of Manchester;
• Our green development portfolio could power over a million homes and displace the emission of almost two million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year by building new onshore and offshore wind farms, biomass power stations, and tidal stream and wave power schemes;
• Our target is to cut the carbon released by each kW of electricity we generate by 10% between 2005-2012, having already reduced it by 20% since 1990;
• We invested £53 million in energy efficiency in 2006, including loft and cavity wall insulation, installation of energy efficient boilers and smart metering, a technology we are investing a further £12 million in over the next two years.;
• We are investing £50 million in new technologies and approaches over the next 5 years, through the Energy Technologies institute;
• We have Biodiversity Action Plans at many of our sites which align us with the UK target of significantly reducing biodiversity loss.

For more information contact:

Emily Highmore on 024 7618 3680