Our operations

Environment

Langage will be one of the most modern and efficient power stations in the world. It will more than meet stringent environmental criteria and will operate well within the standards set by the European Union.

Our environmental record elsewhere demonstrates that we have the capability to work safely within the local and national environment.

Modern gas-fired power stations are completely different from many people's preconceptions of old coal-fired plants with large cooling towers. The proposed plant at Langage will be considerably smaller in size, height and area than a coal plant of similar power output.

Oil firing

We will also be installing oil firing capacity at Langage. This will enable the plant to switch fuels if there is a high demand for gas or the gas network pipeline is interrupted.

Oil firing will be used on a very limited basis and gas will be the fuel of choice at Langage. We have consent to burn fuel oil for 240 hours (10 days) per year, though in practice it should be far less than this.

Oil burning is stringently monitored by the Environment Agency (as is gas burning) and falls well within World Health Organisation guidelines. The ability to burn fuel oil is normal practice across the power generation industry.

About gas

Gas is the cleanest fossil fuel available for power generation. It has been fuelling UK power stations for around 15 years and the UK Government introduced a policy of gas-fired power generation in the late 1980s. Centrica is just one company operating such plants.

We also play a leading role in helping to secure future supplies of gas for the UK. We have agreements to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) and receive gas from Norway at our Langeled gas reception terminal, which opened in 2006.

As part of our strategy of diversifying our sources of energy, we are also investing £750m in renewable projects both onshore and offshore here in the UK.

Whatever happens with building new nuclear power stations, they will take around ten years to construct and become operational. In the medium term, gas-fired power stations, complemented by renewable energy, will become the primary power generation source in the UK.