The UK has been ordered to pay the costs of the case after the court found that the government had incorrectly applied an exemption to the 1.6GW plant in the Vale of Glamorgan.
Under the Large Combustion Plant Directive (LCPD), which came into force at the beginning of 2008, plants with capacity of over 500MW were required to emit no more than 500 milligrams of nitrogen oxides in each normal cubic metre of flue gas.
The directive included an exemption for plants burning fuel with a ‘volatile matter content’ of less than 10 per cent, which enabled them to emit up to 1,200 milligrams per normal cubic metre. Aberthaw was licensed to operate under the exemption.
However, when the European Commission launched an inquiry into the plant in the 2012, it was told by the UK government it had actually been burning coal with an average VMC of more than 11 per cent for each of the previous four years.
The government argued that the exemption should nevertheless apply to Aberthaw, as it only required a “substantial proportion” of the coal to have a VMC of less than 10 per cent. It said the exemption should also apply on the basis that it had been negotiation with plants such as Aberthaw in mind.
The European Court of Justice has now rejected these arguments, saying the UK has “failed to meet its obligations under the directive”. The plants owner, RWE, said it is disappointed by the decision but environmental protection is its “utmost priority”.
Although the LCPD is no longer in force, the court’s ruling could still affect Aberthaw’s current licensing arrangement. “We will work with the UK and Welsh governments and Natural Resources Wales to accommodate the changes to the way the station is regulated as a result of the EU ruling which will enforce an alternative interpretation of the legislation,” RWE said in a statement.
New boiler technology was recently fitted to one of the plant’s units to cut nitrogen oxide emissions and the company is planning to make further modifications so it can burn a wider range of imported coal – thereby reducing nitrogen oxide emissions by a further 30 per cent.
Aberthaw’s manager Richard Little said: “Compliance with this ruling, under continuing difficult market conditions for coal generation, will have a wider cost. It is with regret that it will mean our ability to use large amounts of Welsh coal is reduced somewhat earlier than might otherwise have been necessary.
“Despite this we believe that with plant efficiencies, modifications, and changes to our operating regime, the station can continue to support security of supply into the 2020s.”
The LCPD was superseded by the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) at the beginning of this year – eight years after it came into effect.
Plants covered by the IED had to immediately meet stringent limits on the emission of nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide and dust; sign up to a transitional plan to meet the limits by 2020; or agree to shut down by 2023 and operate for no more than 17,500 hours in the meantime. Aberthaw opted to sign up to a transitional plan.
RWE said it has spent “hundreds of millions of pounds” to reduce the plants environmental impact; installing Flue Gas Desulphurisation and equipment to allow limiting co-firing of biomass, as well as re-engineering the station’s steam turbines to improve their efficiency.