04 August 2008 08:54
Majority of local people in favour of cleaner coal at Kingsnorth

An Ipsos MORI survey organised by energy company E.ON has shown that a majority of people who live near the Kingsnorth site are in favour of a new cleaner coal-fired power station at the site.

The survey showed that 57% of the local population were in favour of E.ON's plans for a 1,600MW development that would be 20% more efficient than the existing station.

Alan Sanderson, Plant Manager at Kingsnorth, said: "This is the first time that the people who live and work around the station have had the chance to have their voices heard and they've come out firmly in favour of our proposed development.

"Clearly we as a company are also very concerned about climate change which is one of the reasons why we're closing the existing Kingsnorth plant by the end of 2015 and planning to build a much more efficient station.

"It's certainly gratifying that local people believe in our plans."

The new power station would operate at a level of efficiency unseen in the UK in a coal-fired power station before. It has also been shortlisted for the Government's carbon capture and storage competition, which could eventually see 90% of its emissions captured and stored underground.

In addition, the survey showed very strong support for E.ON's view that there are three vital issues in the UK's energy future - keeping the lights on (87% saw this as very important), keeping electricity prices as low as possible (72%) and reducing carbon emissions (67%).

The survey took place by telephone over the period July 22 to 27 in the Hoo peninsula (postcode sectors ME2 4, ME3 0, ME3 7, ME3 8 and ME3 9). A quota sample of 502 people aged 16 or above was interviewed, with the results weighted to match the available demographic profiles of the area by sex, age, social class and working status.

Detailed breakdown of survey:

Q From what you know about it, do you support or oppose the plans for a new Kingsnorth power station?

Strongly support 30%

Tend to support 27%

Neither support nor oppose 15%

Tend to oppose 10%

Strongly oppose 12%

Don't know 6%

Anonymous survey quotes:

‘If the old power station is dilapidated and we need a new one it's best to pull it down and build a new one; it's got to be cleaner'

‘They are building 1 million new houses in the area by 2010 and energy has to come from somewhere'

‘The country has to go down the green road. It has to be a diversity of fuels or it won't work.'

‘I don't think a new power station should go ahead unless there is a firm commitment  to the Government to prove CCS'

‘I can understand why people are protesting because it is still going to be a coal power station that produces a lot of CO2 emissions'

Ends

Notes to editors:

• 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;
• E.ON is the new name for Powergen. Our retail business is a leading energy supplier in the UK, with around 8 million electricity and gas customer accounts, covering domestic, SME and industrial. E.ON offers central heating and boiler care through its Home Energy Services business;
• Our distribution business, branded Central Networks, provides a reliable supply to 4.9 customers in central England through 133,000km of underground and overhead cables - enough to go round the Earth more than three times - and via almost 97,000 substations. The company covers an area from the Peak District in the north to parts of Bristol in the south, and from the Welsh Borders to the Lincolnshire Coast;
• We are sponsoring The FA Cup, which is known as The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON. We are an official partner of The Tour of Britain, sponsoring the King of the Mountains competition;
• The generation business produces enough electricity to cater for the needs of around eight million homes from a portfolio of world-class gas, coal and oil fired power stations;
• We are a market leader in combined heat and power, providing our customers with around 600MW of electricity and more than 1,000MW of heat at 13 sites across the country;
• We're one of the leading green generators in the UK, with 21 wind farms located from Cornwall to Northern Ireland. We also burn biomass material mixed with coal in two of our power stations and have recently completed one of the UK's largest dedicated biomass power stations at Lockerbie. 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 have 1,300MW of renewable capacity under development;
• We invested £53 million in energy efficiency in 2006. These measures included 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.;
• Our non-operational carbon intensity dropped by 16.7% per employee in 2006;
• 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;
• E.ON Group has announced it intends to reduced the carbon intensity of its generation by 50% by 2030 (on 1990 levels);
• E.ON Group aims to spend €6bn on green generation by the end of 2010.

For more information and a copy of the full survey contact:

Jonathan Smith on 024 7618 3676

Emily Highmore on 024 7618 3680