Expert trio join ‘clean coal’ project

2Co Energy hired Jonathan Briggs and Graeme Miller to lead commercial development of the 650MW Don Valley Power Project at Stainforth near Hatfield Colliery in South Yorkshire.

Jonathan Briggs joins as managing director of 2Co Power (Yorkshire). He led the Hydrogen Energy joint venture between BP and Rio Tinto in California, and was responsible for managing the $2.5bn carbon capture and storage project that is now under development by SCS Energy.

Graeme Miller joins as commercial director. He was most recently commercial director for Hydrogen Energy’s CCS power project in California and previously worked on BP’s original Peterhead CCS project.

Meanwhile, 2Co Power (Yorkshire) has appointed Foster Wheeler Energy as project management consultant of the £3bn power plant, a contract which is intended to run until the plant comes into operation in 2016. It will help prepare an engineering, procurement and construction contract for the project build over the next six months.

When built, The Don Valley Power Project will combine a coal gasification plant, with CO2 capture on all of the plant, with a conventional style gas-fired power station but one that is fired by a hydrogen-rich fuel.

Planning permission for the power plant has already been granted, and an initial £180m in EU funding secured, which means the main construction activities could start in 2013 if further funding is obtained.