A European Union environmental regulation is prompting big changes and some uncertainty about the future at the Tilbury B Power Station, located on the Thames River, 25 miles east of London. Work is under way to convert the former 1,050-MW coal-fired powerplant, closed in March, to what would be the world’s largest biomass plant, generating 750 MW. But thanks to the regulation that prompted the plant's conversion, Tilbury’s future beyond 2015 is not yet certain, says its owner, RWE npower.
RWE, which declines to disclose the project cost, expects to “investigate the possibility of relicensing and operating to the new plant standards as required, but no discussions [with the British government] have yet taken place,” according to Daniel Meredith, a spokesman for RWE npower, Swindon, U.K. RWE “will also consider a number of other options for the site, such as converting to combined-cycle gas turbine, but won’t make any decisions until the government has made clear its future energy policy.”