The environment
Protecting the environment is a very important issue and RWE npower is committed to limiting the environmental impact of everything we do – especially when developing a new power station.
Any company seeking planning consent to build a large power station must thoroughly investigate the possible effects of its proposals on the environment. An Environmental Statement (ES) providing details of these investigations and their conclusions must be submitted with the planning application, forming a vital part of the planning process.
We submitted an ES with our original planning application in 2005, however we have since carried out further detailed consultation and environmental surveys making it necessary to update our statement and consolidate the new information with that of the original ES.
The updated ES contains comprehensive information about the potential environmental impact of the proposed gas-fired power station on our Pembroke site. We believe the ES demonstrates that the proposed power station would not have a significant impact on the environment and that it would not harm the integrity of the Pembrokeshire Marine Special Area of Conservation.
Modern gas fired power stations are clean and compact facilities. Generating electricity from gas is more efficient than other fossil fuels and gas also contains less carbon than coal. These two factors result in gas fired power generation producing less than half the CO2 emissions when compared to electricity generated from existing coal fired power stations.
The other main product of combustion is water – there is no ash or dust and gas contains virtually no sulphur.
We are committed to conducting the construction and operation of our power plants in an environmentally sustainable way and we will continue to work closely with the Environment Agency and Countryside Council for Wales towards this goal.