§ Lord Mason of Barnsley asked Her Majesty's GovernmentWhether they will report on progress on the fluidised bed combustion technology at Grimethorpe, Barnsley; what foreign support remains; whether foreign companies who have withdrawn are free to develop this technology independently, and whether they are now able to make an announcement about further Government financial support for the Grimethorpe plant.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Energy (Baroness Hooper)Present Grimethorpe activity is the preparation of reports on the successful joint British Coal/CEGB three year programme completed recently. This included contract work for the United States Department of Energy and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). These were the only foreign organisations involved, and they can only exploit information for which they have paid. This programme has advanced pressurised fluidised bed technology to the point where the problems of erosion and corrosion of tubes in the hostile environment of the bed have been solved, and the cleaning of hot combustion gases to a degree acceptable to a gas turbine has been significantly advanced. British Coal attention has now turned to a more advanced system they term the Topping Cycle, and a proposal has been made to Government for financial support for a programme based on the Grimethorpe facility. British Coal are providing a substantial amount of additional information to assist the Department of Energy's evaluation of this proposal.