Rugeley Power Station: Plans put on the table

The preferred options have been outlined by Cannock Chase MP Amanda Milling who raised the power station in the House of Commons.

Ms Milling warned that the site could 'shut in a matter of weeks' and laid out potential options for the future of the site.

She said: "The power station could potentially shut in a matter of weeks. Cannock Chase was once dominated by mines and power stations. Now Rugeley B is the last remaining reminder of our mining heritage.

"This is a real blow for the employees, the contractors and wider supply chain as well as the wider community with many clubs and groups using facilities on the site. We can't be complacent and assume that the areas resilience will see us through this period."

Ms Milling went on to outline the potential developments should the plant close its doors.

She said: "The Rugeley B power station site is of national strategic importance, being unique in terms of its size, its location and also its connectivity.

"In terms of its size it is 374 acre brown field site which could accommodate a range of different developments including housing commercial and industrial units and a turbine. All of which could deliver jobs, homes and electricity.

"There is a strong case to utilise the existing infrastructure and build a gas power station which will help create jobs for the highly skilled workforce that currently works at Rugeley B."

French owner Engie announced back in February that it would be closing the power station down, putting some 150 jobs at risk.

The closure will also have a damaging effect on Cannock Chase District Council, who are due to lose out on millions of pounds in business rates.

Power generator Engie, formerly GDF Suez, blamed the early closure on 'the deterioration in market conditions for UK coal-fired power generation'.

The Government announced in November that all coal power plants which do not have technology to capture their carbon emissions would be shut by 2025.

Rugeley B doesn't have carbon capture technology. Instead it uses a flue gas desulpherisation plant, or FGD, to remove sulphur dioxide.

It can provide enough electricity to power one million homes and is one of the most flexible and efficient coal-fired stations in the UK.

In a rare bit of good news, as revealed in the Express & Star yesterday, workers at the doomed plant have been invited to apply for a host of new jobs opening up at a plant in Kidderminster.