HC Deb 29 April 1993 vol 223 cc464-5W
Mr. Hall

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment has been made of whether the Fiddler's Ferry power station conforms to the Govenment's national plan's control on emissions of sulphur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Mr. Maclean

The requirement of the national plan is that National Power and PowerGen, who are the operators of Fiddler's Ferry power station, should each keep within a specified company quota for SO2 and NOx emissions from existing large combustion plant. This has been met in 1991 and 1992. Authorisations issued by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution aim to ensure that the sum of allocations for SO2 and NOx for a particular company do not exceed its overall quota. However, there is flexibility within the plan for the distribution of a company's allocations to change provided that they do not in total exceed the quota or conflict with any other conditions of the authoritisation, such as those designed to ensure that best available techniques not entailing excessive cost are used to minimise harmful emissions.

Mr. Hall

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what were the sulphur dioxide emissions from Fiddler's Ferry power station for 1991; what are the 1993 estimated figures; and what assessment he has made of the reason for the difference between those two figures.

Mr. Maclean

Reported emissions of SO2 for 1991 were 171,018 tonnes. It is estimated that total emissions will be broadly the same in 1993.

Mr. Hall

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the estimated level of sulphur dioxide emissions from Fiddler's Ferry power station for 1993; what were the figures for 1987; and what effect the EC policy of securing a 50 per cent. reduction in emissions has had on reducing the level of emissions from that station.

Mr. Maclean

Estimated 1993 SO2 emissions from Fiddler's Ferry power station are 172,000 tonnes; 1987 figures are not held centrally. Current EC policy on reductions of SO2 emissions is primarily embodied in the large combustion plants directive of 1988. One of its requirements is that by the year 2003 total SO2 emissions from all power stations in the United Kingdom should be reduced by 60 per cent. from 1980 levels. The annual company quota for PowerGen, which operates the Fiddler's Ferry power station, reflects that requirement.