Carbon capture-ready clean coal power

has secured a contract with

(SSE) for front end engineering design of a carbon capture ready 500MW clean coal plant retrofit at SSE’s Ferrybridge Power Station in

. This represents the first application of capture ready clean coal technology in the UK.

On completion, the installation of Mitsui Babcock’s supercritical clean coal boiler technology could save around 500,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year compared with the current conventional subcritical power station plant. The subsequent deployment of carbon capture technology could save a further 1.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.

High-level engineering feasibility studies into the project have already been completed. Mitsui Babcock, the lead contactor, along with partners Siemens and UK Coal, will now carry out further detailed front end engineering design work with the aim of confirming the overall viability of the scheme. This work is expected to be complete within the current year, to allow investment decisions to be taken by SSE during 2007. Subject to a positive investment decision, the capture ready plant could be in commercial operation by 2011.