After the Coal Rush: Assessing policy options for coal-fired electricity generation

Article

In early January 2008, Medway Council gave approval to a planning application from energy company E.ON to build a new coal-fired power station on the site of an existing plant at Kingsnorth. This would be the first major coal-fired power station built in the UK since the 1970s. In this report, we provide a comprehensive examination of the issues at stake. To decide what should be done about Kingsnorth and other proposed new plants, we argue that it is essential to understand the wider context of energy markets and energy policy, both within the UK and at European level.

In early January 2008, Medway Council gave approval to a planning application from energy company E.ON to build a new coal-fired power station on the site of an existing plant at Kingsnorth. This would be the first major coal-fired power station built in the UK since the 1970s.

The Kingsnorth application has provoked a major new debate on coal, energy policy and climate policy in the UK. This is, in part, because it is the first real test of both the Climate Change Bill passing through Parliament, and the wider consensus across Government, business and civil society that more radical action must be taken to reduce carbon emissions.

In this report, we provide a comprehensive examination of the issues at stake. To decide what should be done about Kingsnorth and other proposed new plants, we argue that it is essential to understand the wider context of energy markets and energy policy, both within the UK and at European level.

You can also download the background paper by Will Blyth of Oxford Energy Associates on the economics of investment in coal-fired power stations: The Investment Case for Coal-Fired Power Generation in the UK. ippr commissioned this paper to inform the coal project.

Related items

  1. The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, River Thames and Westminster Bridge

    Taxing choices: Taking the public’s temperature ahead of the budget

    The stakes for a government are rarely higher than at a budget. Every chancellor has dealt with this differently. Ken Clarke would draft his budget speech with cigars and whisky, Gordon Brown pored over every word in what officials called…
  2. Scottish parliament building at Holyrood and Calton Hill, Edinburgh

    Great expectations: Rejuvenating the national debate in Scotland

    Fresh IPPR Scotland polling shows that politicians must raise their game if next year’s election is a to be serious debate about the challenges facing Scotland and potential solutions. 
  3. A Black man in a bright orange high vis jacket and hard hat stands in the middle of a road holding a sign that says 'STOP - WORKS'

    Unfinished business: Redressing inequality in British policy and Black lives

    As conversations about race and equality continue to evolve, Black History Month remains a powerful invitation to pause, reflect, and recommit to progress.