26/10/2012

EU Investigates £1bn Pembroke Power Station

The UK government's approval of a £1bn gas-fired power station in Pembrokeshire is to be investigated by the European Commission.

Pembroke Power Station, the largest of its type in Europe, opened last month and will power 3.5m homes.

Following a complaint by Friends of the Earth, the Department of Energy and Climate Change has been told to clarify the impact on Cleddau estuary water.

The government said it was currently considering its response.

Water from the estuary is used to cool gas turbines at the 2000MW power station, owned by RWE npower.

Friends of the Earth (FoE) Cymru registered a complaint with the European Commission in July 2010 over concerns that EU laws had been broken.

An investigation has been ongoing since then to determine whether the Environment Agency should have issued an operating permit.

A spokesman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change told BBC Wales that the commission's action is a "notice of infringement" and not a 'full-blown infraction proceedings".

A spokesman said: "The government has two months to respond and we are currently considering our response."

(H)


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