POWER infrastructure giant Mitsui Babcock is to install the first UK application of "clean" coal technology in the UK in a deal to fit GBP 250 million worth of carbon capture technology at Scottish and Southern Energy's Ferrybridge Power Station in Yorkshire.

Once in place, the clean coal boiler is expected to save around 500,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, equivalent to the development of 230 megawatts of wind farm capacity.

Mitsui Babcock, which was formed in 1995 after a Japanese takeover of Clydeside boilermakers Babcock and Wilcox, has already completed feasibility studies into the project in partnership with Siemens and UK Coal, and plans to complete further preparatory work within the year. Once approved, the capture-ready plant could be in commercial operation as early as 2011.

The Ferrybridge project involves the installation of a 500MW supercritical boiler and turbine unit, the first of its kind in the UK.

It is slated to deliver a thermal efficiency of over 45 per cent, compared to the 36 per cent now prevailing throughout the UK coal- fired power station fleet.

Iain Miller, chief operating officer of Mitsui Babcock, said: "Clean coal is the only short-term solution to our environmental, economic and supply challenges.

"It deserves the kind of high-level support given to renewables - and more recently, nuclear."

Ian Marchant, chief executive of SSE, said: "I believe that cleaner coal represents a very exciting opportunity for SSE and for the UK as a whole."