Hatfield colliery set to beat E.ON's Kingsnorth plant to European Commission funding

A power plant in Hatfield colliery in Yorkshire looks set to collect 拢165m in European Commission funding to convert to 鈥渃lean coal,鈥 according to reports. The plant in Doncaster, owned by Powerfuel, is one of a 鈥渃luster鈥 of CCS plants where emissions from a string of industrial sites on Humberside could be pumped into former gas fields under the North Sea.

The news follows E.ON鈥檚 decision to delay plans for a carbon capture and storage (CCS) enabled power station in Kingsnorth, Kent, for three years.

Liberal democrat MEP, Chris Davies, who steered the CCS legislation through European Parliament, told the Times that E.ON had failed to get EU funding for the project leading to the U-turn. He added that a formal announcement from the European Parliament was due shortly.

Kingsnorth is disqualified from reaping a 拢1bn UK government research grant because it will miss the 2014 deadline.

A government spokesman said that E.ON had not officially withdrawn from the competition or been barred from it.