The government's approval of a large (2000MW) LNG-fired power station at Pembroke is a missed opportunity to develop a greener technology that would have created much needed jobs and energy, emitted less carbon dioxide and would not have harmed the important ecology of the Milford Haven waterway.
According to Friends of the Earth Cymru, the shores of the Milford Haven waterway is an ideal location for building combined heat and power (CHP) systems which, if suitably sited, could provide heat for the two oil refineries and the two LNG terminals at Milford Haven whilst generating electricity. This, they say, would be far more efficient and would cause less environmental harm.
Director of Friends of the Earth Cymru, Gordon James, said: "While the government is urging the public to save energy by switching off stand-by, turning lights off and so on, it is giving the go-ahead to a new power station that will waste over half the energy content of the ga, emit almost six million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year and threaten an important marine ecosystem.
"We have calculated that the heat wasted from the new power station would be equivalent to 40 per cent of Wales' electricity demand.
"The government is giving this power station the green light knowing that a much more efficient technology - combined heat and power (CHP) - is available that would generate electricity, use waste heat in neighbouring industrial activities, emit less carbon dioxide and create jobs.
"At Milford Haven, CHP systems could be built close to the two oil refineries and the two LNG terminals, all of which have a big demand for heat. These technologies are widely used in other countries, such as Denmark.
"With both climate change and energy security now posing such concern, we should be using the best technologies available to meet our energy needs.
"CHP would also prevent the harmful dumping of large quantities of warm water into the ecologically important Milford Haven waterway.
"We find it incredible that the government is ignoring the strong objections of its experts, the Countryside Council for Wales, on this issue. These objections have been backed by an independent legal opinion.
"This decision makes a mockery of the government's claim that it wants to take a lead role in developing the green economy in order to tackle both the economic recession and the immense threat now posed by climate change. And it is a missed opportunity for Wales to fulfil its aim of being a world leader in clean energy."