Energy firms plan dozens of new fossil-fuelled power stations

Friends of the Earth is calling on MPs to block the government's energy policy statement in parliament on Monday

Dozens of new fossil-fuelled power stations are being planned by energy companies, triggering concerns among green campaigners of a new "dash for gas" that could crowd out wind and other cleaner energy projects, the Guardian can reveal.

Friends of the Earth is calling on MPs to block the government's prime energy policy statement, which comes before parliament on Monday amid a deluge of new planning applications or consents. Some plans are already queuing up in the public planning system. Scottish Power wants to construct a 1.2GW station at Avonmouth, near Bristol, while RWE npower is building a 2GW gas plant at Pembroke, south Wales, and a 2.4GW station at Willington in Derbyshire. It is also looking at a smaller facility at Fawley, near Southampton. Smaller schemes include ones by Welsh Power, which wants to construct an 850MW plant at Fleetwood in Lancashire, and Trafford Peaking Power is developing one in Manchester.

The Guardian has unearthed as many as 30 potential gas schemes , which are either in late development stage or very early proposals, and which - if built could lock Britain into a higher carbon future at a time when it is trying to promote renewable power to cut emissions. Simon Bullock, a campaigner with FoE, says the national policy statement which will be debated in the Commons today would allow gas projects to be fast-forwarded on the basis that the UK has an "urgent" need for all new capacity to replace old nuclear and coal plants.

"Instead of there being an 'urgent' need for new gas, there is in fact no need for new gas - beyond the capacity already being built or with planning permission. The new capacity the government says is needed by 2025 is already either under construction or has planning permission," he argues.

London-based consultancy, New Power, argued regulatory and financial uncertainty had slowed a dash for gas but it still believed "interest in new gas-fired plants remains high". Gas is seen as attractive by developers because plants are relatively cheap and quick to construct but consumer groups are worried about soaring gas prices.

A Department of Energy and Climate Change spokesman voting through the national policy statements were a vital part of the move to set Britain on a new course and rebuild out-of-date infrastructure. "The transition to low carbon energy can't just happen overnight. Gas in particular will be needed to provide vital flexibility to support an increasing amount of low-carbon generation and to maintain security of supply," he explained.

"In the long term there is likely to be a role for gas plant equipped with carbon capture and storage, which is why new gas plants are required to be built carbon capture ready and the carbon capture and storage demonstration competition is open to gas plant as well as coal plant." RWE npower, which The Guardian calculates could have nearly 9GW of gas-fired plants in action by 2020 and which revealed last week it was in wide-ranging talks with Gazprom of Russia, insists it has made no decisions on facilities such as Willington or Fawley.

A spokesman said: "I would not say this a dash for gas as we are progressing renewable and other projects but we do believe in diversity because the future of energy is uncertain." RWE said talks with Gazprom were at a very early stage but it admitted it could include an equity stake being released to the Russians and combined gas projects in the UK.

Gazprom was at one stage linkled with the potential purchase of British Gas, something that caused political concern among some MPs. RWE is also among the companies looking at building nuclear power plants but said there was no question of Gazprom being involved in those schemes.

(By Terry Macalister and Jenny Roper, The Guardian, 18/07/2011)