Critical decision

The UK energy sector is likely to be urged to spend hundreds of millions of pounds on supercritical boiler technology in a bid to cut pollution from the nation’s ageing coal-fired power plants.

Energy and environmental group Mitsui Babcock is poised to launch a government-backed study into the feasibility of retrofitting the plants with supercritical equipment and other advanced CO2 abatement systems.

The energy sector sees reducing emissions from coal-fired plants as vital to its long-term future in the UK’s power economy, and to meeting the nation’s international commitments on the environment.

The supercritical refit is the key first step in a three-stage process needed to cut emissions, according to Les King, project leader at Mitsui Babcock, which will work with partners including Air Products, Alstom and Imperial College on the DTI-funded inititiative.

‘The supercritical retrofit is the first building block towards CO2 reduction,’ said King. ‘By fitting supercritical boilers we can increase fuel efficiency by up to 20 per cent.’