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Ayrshire Power, the company which has submitted a planning application for a new multi-fuel power station at Hunterston, has welcomed support for the project from the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC).
In a statement urging the Scottish Government to give Ayrshire Power’s proposal ‘serious consideration’, a spokesman for the STUC said:
“The Scottish Trades Union Congress firmly believes that clean coal technology, in which Scotland is strong, is an essential part of a future, low-carbon energy mix, both nationally and globally.
“So long as the Hunterston proposals conform to the highest prevailing standards at every stage, they can play an important part in meeting Scotland's energy needs.
“As we said when this proposal was first put forward, we believe that Scotland needs new generation from all sources - renewables, nuclear and clean coal - if we are going to meet the energy challenges of coming decades.
“We also cannot ignore the prospect of 1600 jobs during the construction phase and 160 on a permanent basis in a part of Scotland which suffers from above-average unemployment. It is also essential that, for environmental and economic reasons, the development uses indigenous Scottish coal, thereby supporting other Scottish jobs and communities.”
Muir Miller, Ayrshire Power project director, commented:
“We welcome the STUC’s support for our proposals which recognises the significant jobs benefit which the development would bring to North Ayrshire as well as the role which clean coal technology has to play in meeting Scotland’s energy targets.
“The commercial-scale deployment of CCS technology provides an opportunity for Scotland to develop new skills and employment in this emerging global market for decades to come.”
Ayrshire Power’s planning application was submitted to the Scottish Government’s Energy Consents Unit on 2nd June. Last month the company announced that the consultation period on the application would be extended from its original deadline of 15th July until 20th August in order to give all interested parties as much time as possible to review the proposals.
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