Proposed government strategy for Combined Heat and Power that aims to double good quality CHP capacity by 2010 is “unachievable” says the Paper Federation.
This comes on the tail of an ESA response earlier this week, stating “the Government’s capacity growth targets for CHP are unrealistic”. (see letsrecycle.com story)
The Paper Federation’s response to the public consultation draft said: “existing measures adopted by the Government will be insufficient, and the 2010 target for installed CHP capacity will not be met”.
It claimed the model used by the Government to found its proposals on is anachronistic – based on the situation between 1995-2000 which it describes as “a period of relative optimism”.
The Government paper promotes the use of CHP to heat surrounding industries or residential areas, although according to the response: “Gas prices nearly doubled in 2000 and the UK wholesale electricity prices fell significantly. New Electricity Trading Arrangements (NETA) has also had an adverse effect on the economics of CHP. The energy consultants appointed by the paper industry feel that the proposals being put forward by the Government would not alter the fundamentally weak economic position of CHP.”
The Paper Federation said, in response to the consultation that the introduction of specific legislation to support CHP in line with that applying in other EU countries.
It also suggests the payment of a premium for CHP produced electricity when sold to the grid from a paper-mill, as well as the provision of funding to support capital investment in CHP.
Director of business affairs at the Paper Federation, Graham Bernard said during the 1980s and 1990s economic investment in CHP was more attractive, but this has now stopped. He said: “The paper industry makes an ideal host for CHP and it wants to participate in meeting the Government’s CHP installation target, but can only do so if investment makes economic as well as environmental sense.”
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