MEDWAY, England, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- Britain's first coal-fired power station in 20 years was approved this week, but opponents want a public debate on the use of coal.
E.on UK, formerly Powergen, wants to replace its existing Kingsnorth power station in Medway, Kent, with a clean-coal carbon-capture system, the London Times reported.
The $1.9 billion investment was recommended by the local council but still faces a final decision from the secretary of state for business. Opponents, including Greenpeace, are calling for a public inquiry to address the wider issue of using coal for the first time in a generation.
The power station could become the prototype for all future clean-coal projects if it wins a carbon-capture design competition. However, because of financial constraints and viability issues, many similar projects have been dumped in the last several months.
It could take up to two years to receive approval from Business Secretary John Hutton, and even longer if the government grants a public inquiry.
E.on has said it wants to build a coal-fired power station to give it diversity of energy sources.
"It's going to take 15 years to get new nuclear up and running so in the short-term you build gas and in the medium term coal," a spokesman for the company said, according to the newspaper.
The units would produce enough energy to supply about 1.5 million homes and lead to a cut in carbon emissions of almost 2 million tons a year.
