A NEW gas-fired power station is being lined up to replace one of Scotland's two coal plants, The Scotsman has learned. ScottishPower, which owns Cockenzie power station, will submit plans to ministers later this year for a combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power station on the site of the East Lothian plant.

The move will satisfy some environmentalists as a gas-fired power station would emit about half the volume of greenhouse gases currently produced by the coal-fired plant, which is earmarked for closure within six years. But the news last night triggered calls for the Scottish Government to insist the new plant be fitted with carbon capture technology to further drive down emissions.

CAMPAIGNERS protesting against Scottish Government plans to build a coal-fuelled power station at Hunterston are to launch a legal challenge, claiming that locals were not properly consulted. The proposed power station, close to the tourist town of Largs, was a late addition to the National Planning Framework (NPF) published in February last year. Maggie Kelly, of Communities Opposed to New Coal at Hunterston (Conch) and a local resident, said: "The proposed power station would have a devastating impact on our community, damaging our health, our livelihoods and destroying the local environment. Yet under the National Planning Framework, we have been denied the opportunity to object to this major development."

The plans were not placed in the NPF until last September, four months after the initial consultation process was closed. As the area was unaffected by the original proposals, the local community council did not comment on the document and was not considered among "interested parties" and, therefore, was not informed of the change. According to Fairlie Community Council, it was only in April this year that locals became fully aware of the plans.

The iconic coal-fired power station at Cockenzie in East Lothian is to close by March next year, it has been announced. Owners ScottishPower are having to close the station after 44 years because it fails to comply with new environmental legislation.

The Scottish Government last year granted planning permission for a new gas plant at Cockenzie, making demolition of the existing massive structure unlikely. ScottishPower are evaluating options for developing the site but the gas plant would “broadly” involve the same structure with some modifications.

Controversial plans for a new coal-fired power station with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology in North Ayrshire have been dropped. Ayrshire Power confirmed it was withdrawing a planning application for the facility at Hunterston. The company blamed the economic slowdown and funding uncertainty for the move.

The decision means a public inquiry into the proposed development will not now proceed this autumn. The Scottish government said the withdrawal was a commercial decision for Ayrshire Power. In November, North Ayrshire Council rejected the firm's Hunterston plans after more than 20,000 objections were lodged.