European pollution regulations may close 12 UK power plants by 2023

Britain could face at least 12 gigawatts (GW) of power plant capacity going offline by the end of 2023 due to tighter European Union pollution regulation, Reuters calculations based on government data showed yesterday.

Britain is at risk of a severe power capacity crunch in the 2020s as ageing nuclear power stations come to the end of their life and coal and gas plants shut because they cannot afford to add costly technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to comply with EU law.

Britain’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has published a list of power plants whose operators have requested they are exempted from the EU’s Industrials Emissions Directive — meaning they are not slated for expensive upgrades and will therefore close over the next nine years.

The list, which included plants run by SSE Plc, EDF and RWE, did not show any details of capacity which could be closed, but this number is important for the industry in order to calculate how much replacement capacity might be required.

Operators can still change their minds on the opt-out up until January 1, 2016.

Under the EU directive, power plants in the bloc have to control and reduce the impact of their emissions on the environment. In most cases this involves retrofitting their plants with expensive technology.

Power plant operators have had to inform their relevant environment regulator about which stations have chosen not to install such technology.

Plants can run without upgrades for 17,500 hours starting on January 1, 2016, or to the end of 2023, whichever comes first.

European power generators are shutting or mothballing plants as they try to cut costs after being taken by surprise by a surge in output from renewable energy sources, making many gas and coal plants redundant and sparking a collapse in wholesale power prices.