Clean Power Projects Ltd. (CPP) is involved in the development of fossil-fuel fired power stations with Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). In particular, CPP has been involved in the development of the Hatfield IGCC project since December 2002 and now has an agreement with the project’s developer, Powerfuel Power Limited, which makes CPP responsible for the financial modelling and analysis of the project.

The project, which involves the construction of an IGCC power plant complete with CCS next to the existing Hatfield Colliery, is clearly the most advanced major CCS project in Europe and the plant could be available for CCS as early as 2013, a year before the post combustion capture plant chosen under the government’s CCS competition. The commissioning of the plant will take place in two phases; the first phase will involve the completion of a natural gas fired, “syngas ready”, CCGT by 2011 with the second phase, its conversion into an IGCC with CCS, taking a further two years.

Mine to power operations, which do not incur the very high cost of transporting coal, provide a favourable pricing and indexation scheme for the IGCC power station fuel supply which, in turn, will allow the project to sell electricity at a very competitive price. The current progress of the project towards financial close is described on the Hatfield IGCC page of this website. This page will be updated at appropriate intervals as the project progresses.

Responsibility for the financial modelling and analysis of the Hatfield IGCC project will enable CPP to gain a unique understanding of the economics of a coal-fired power station with CCS. In particular its phased development will allow CPP to make a detailed comparison of how these economics compare with those of a natural gas fired CCGT.