£1bn Kingsnorth power station in doubt

The approval of E.On’s controversial £1bn coal-fired power plant at Kingsnorth in Kent is in doubt.

Business secretary John Hutton is at loggerheads with environment secretary Hilary Benn and foreign secretary David Miliband over a carbon capturing project.

Hutton wants the plant approved even if it is not chosen for an experiment in which its carbon emissions would be caught and stored under the sea.

But his rivals only want the plant built if it can test commercial scale carbon capture.

The government’s decision on the plant’s future is due shortly, but a decision on the carbon capture project at Kingsnorth is not due for nine months.

A decision on the plant’s approval could be delayed until then, according to the Independent.