Any company submitting an application to build a new power station must thoroughly investigate the possible effects of its proposals on the environment and provide details of these investigations and their conclusions. This information is set out in an Environmental Statement (ES), which forms a vital part of the consent application. An important part of developing an ES is scoping – the process of outlining and agreeing the environmental investigations that will be completed.

David Hinchliffe, RWE npower’s Tilbury Project Manager, commented: “In order to continue exploring our options for Tilbury, we need to submit a scoping report to ensure that the environmental studies we undertake will provide all the relevant information required for the environmental assessment.

“We are committed to keeping the local community up to date as the project continues and we will be holding a series of public events later this summer, which will be advertised in the local media.  Although we are only exploring options at this stage, our Tilbury site is an excellent one for power generation as it has good energy infrastructure and is close to areas of high electricity demand. This gas-fired option would complement RWE npower’s other low carbon technology initiatives such as our new nuclear build programme and renewables projects."

The recently submitted scoping report will be sent by the IPC to a number of bodies and groups including the relevant local authorities and the Environment Agency. This provides them with the opportunity to comment on RWE npower’s scoping proposals and, if necessary, highlight any additional areas of study they would like to be included.

More information about RWE npower’s proposals is available by calling the dedicated Tilbury information line on 0845 136 0106 or by emailing contact@npowertilbury.co.uk

ENDS