New coal power stations in Scotland must be able to utilise carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology to cut emissions, it has been confirmed.

Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth John Swinney yesterday said the Scottish position will be the same as the rest of the UK, following the Department of Energy and Climate Change response to the clean coal framework.

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Any new application for a coal fired power station will need to incorporate CCS demonstration with CCS planned to be mandatory for new coal stations from 2020.

A 'rolling review' of the technical and economic viability of retrofitting CCS to existing coal plants will also take place.

Carbon capture and storage is a process of separating carbon dioxide from industrial processes and transporting to a long-term storage location.

The Scottish Government is working closely with the UK Government on this issue, including the proposals in the forthcoming UK energy bill which will allow a levy on generation to be charged in order to fund up to four CCS demonstrator projects across the UK.

(GK/BMcC)