29 January 2010 - RWE has issued a statement laying out an option to build a gas power plant at Tilbury in Essex to replace the coal unit, which is due to close by 2016.

The existing Tilbury power station is scheduled to close under the European Large Combustion Plant Directive (LCPD). A new gas plant could provide up to 2000 MW of electricity, enough power for around 3m homes, much more cleanly than a coal fired plant, reported Reuters.

"This is just an option at this stage, but our Tilbury site is an excellent one for power generation. It has good energy infrastructure and is close to areas of high electricity demand," Kevin McCullough, Chief Technical Officer for RWE npower, said in a statement.

RWE npower, the UK unit of German utility RWE, said in 2009 it had dropped plans for a 1600 MW cleaner coal plant at Tilbury. The company may use a plot of land it identified for fitting carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology if, and when, this technology became viable.

The company said one method it might consider is using an Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) plant to turn coal into a gas to fuel a power plant.

"The development of CCS technologies is essential if we are to meet national carbon emissions targets, and maintain secure supplies of electricity," McCullough said.

"A modern gas station at the Tilbury site would be `CCS ready' and, in the future, could enable us to capture CO2 from our plant using this."