Petition calls on UK Government to reject Connah’s Quay power station plans
A petition is calling on the UK Government to reject plans for a new gas-fired power station with carbon capture at Connah’s Quay.
The change.org petition, started by Timothy Redman, urges the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero to refuse Uniper’s Connah’s Quay Low Carbon Power Project.
The scheme would see a new power station built on Uniper’s land next to the existing Connah’s Quay plant, capable of generating up to 1.38 gigawatts, with equipment to capture carbon dioxide and send it into the HyNet network for storage under Liverpool Bay.
Because of its size, the project is being decided by the UK Government rather than Flintshire County Council, and it is currently being examined by planning inspectors.
The petition says the Dee Estuary is one of the most important ecological sites in the UK, and raises concerns about air quality, public health and the visual impact of the scheme on an area that already hosts significant industry.
It states: “Many residents feel that local communities are being asked to shoulder an ever-increasing environmental burden while the benefits of these developments are enjoyed elsewhere.”
Carolyn Thomas, who was a Labour Senedd Member for North Wales until May’s election, criticised the project in a post on Facebook.
She said: “The planned new construction is massive, totally overbearing on the surrounding landscape.”
“It will impact the Dee Estuary Special Area of Conservation and SSSI as well as homes, Deeside college and recreation.”
The Dee Estuary holds two layers of legal protection for wildlife, as a Special Area of Conservation and a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Ms Thomas added: “It is hypocrisy to call it a low carbon power plant to tackle the climate and nature emergency, it is green washing under the Hynet proposal.”
Uniper’s latest design documents show the tallest structures, the carbon capture absorber stacks, would reach a maximum of 145 metres, reduced from the 150 metres proposed when the application was submitted last August.
Cllr Glyn Banks, Flintshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Waste and Transportation, said carbon capture and storage under the seabed was “the industrial equivalent of lifting your carpet and brushing your dust under it”.
He said heavy industry needed to clean up its act rather than hide its waste for future generations to deal with, adding that the situation showed “too much power still lies in Westminster”.
Flintshire County Council lodged 30 unresolved objections at the final deadline of the examination, covering noise, traffic on Kelsterton Road, wildlife surveys and protected habitats on the Dee Estuary.
Uniper defended its assessments throughout the examination, saying it stood by its landscape and visual work, and says the station would provide low carbon power and back up the electricity grid when wind and solar output is low.
The examining inspectors now have up to three months to send their recommendation to the UK Government, and the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero then has up to three months to make the final decision.
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