New low carbon power station moves a step closer

Alec Doyle – Local democracy reporter

A proposed low-carbon power station in north Wales has cleared one of two key hurdles after a council cleared the way for demolition works to begin.

In order to create the space needed for the new facility, site owners Uniper need to demolish the now defunct gas treatment plant at the existing Connah’s Quay Power Station.

Now Flintshire’s planning department has ruled that permission for the demolition to take place is not required.

Clearing the land will create room on the banks of the River Dee for Connah’s Quay Low Carbon Power (CQLCP) – a power plant capable of generating up to 1.38GW of low carbon power – enough to power around 1.4 million homes.

Emissions

Considered a National Infrastructure Project, the site will include carbon capture technology to collect carbon emissions.

They will then be pumped into the HyNet Carbon pipeline, where they will be stored in gas wells under the Irish Sea.

In their report officers said: “The information submitted provides confidence that the project would not give rise to significant environmental effects.

“Proposed mitigation measures and the method of demolition as stated within the submitted documents detailed above would ensure that the environment is safeguarded from any potential pollution incidents and emissions.

“It is therefore considered that further approval is not required.”

Obstacle 

The demolition work is scheduled to begin in March next year and run until March 2028.

CQLCP still has one more obstacle to overcome – it needs to be granted permission by the Secretary of State for Wales.

That process is currently underway, with the application at pre-examination stage.