Coal power plants to face ban from 2015

Conventional coal-fired power stations will be banned from 2015 under proposals backed by the European Parliament this week.

E.ON's plans for the Kingsnorth facility will escape the ban because if approved by the government (see page 5) it would be built before then. But the Kent scheme would be hit financially after MEPs backed steps to force power companies to pay for carbon emissions from 2013.

North West England MEP Chris Davies, who is negotiating on carbon capture and storage (CCS) regulations, told Planning: "We have agreed that from 2015 stations that emit 500g of carbon per kilowatt-hour will be banned."

He added: "This will allow gas-fired power stations to continue but not coal without CCS technology. This will make no difference to Kingsnorth, but it will have to pay for its emissions."

An agreement on the recommendations will be hammered out by December. The European Parliament committee also agreed plans to set up a EUR10 billion fund for research into CCS.