West Burton is a Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) power station, currently under construction in Nottinghamshire. When complete, the new CCGT plant will emit approximately 4.5 million tonnes CO2 per year when operating at full capacity. This is more than the annual emissions of Paraguay.
West Burton is one of the first in the Government’s new plan to build 20 new gas fired power stations (20GW) in the UK by 2030. It is owned by EDF, the second worst of the Big Six energy companies in terms of investing in renewable energy.
There is currently 13GW of gas that has either recently been completed, is in construction, or has been granted planning consent. Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Ed Davey, has guaranteed that if built, these stations will be exempted from emissions regulations and can continue emitting CO2 unabated until 2045, i.e. their full life-span.
